Rucker, Beulah, House-School
Also known as: Gainesville High and Industrial School for Colored; Beulah R
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
This small one-story cottage on the Athens Highway in Gainesville, Georgia, was built between 1914 and 1916 by Beulah Rucker and her husband Byrd Oliver. It served as the family home and, during the day, as a schoolhouse. Rucker, a Black educator born in Banks County, founded the Gainesville High and Industrial School for Colored and taught and served as principal for over forty years. The school served children of limited means, taught industrial trades such as brickmaking, hatmaking and rug weaving, and grew crops on site. After Rosenwald Foundation matching funds built new facilities around 1920, it added high school grades and enrolled up to 200 students. It was the only Black high school in Hall County. The other school buildings have burned or been demolished, leaving this house as the sole surviving historic resource of the complex. It has wood siding, a metal hipped roof, a stone pier foundation, and a chimney Rucker built from stones found on the property.
Significance in brief: It is the only surviving historic building of the Gainesville High and Industrial School for Colored, founded about 1914 by educator Beulah Rucker Oliver. The school was the only black high school in Hall County and the only local school teaching industrial skills to Black students. The property is significant under Criteria A and B for education, ethnic heritage (African American), and its association with Oliver.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 95000533, listed May 4, 1995. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2110 Athens Hwy., Gainesville |
|---|---|
| County | Hall County |
| Listed | May 4, 1995 |
| Reference number | 95000533 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c.1915-1945 |
| Architect / builder | Beulah Rucker and Byrd Oliver - builders |
| Architectural style | No style (Georgian cottage, central-passage plan) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Black, Education |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as vacant; a museum and educational foundation was rehabilitating the building for use as a community center. |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Coordinates | 34.28195, -83.78762 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 95000533.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q65060354
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.