Riley Hill School
Why it's listed
Riley Hill School is a one-story brick school built in 1928 near Wendell in Wake County, North Carolina. Strickland Brothers of Zebulon built it for about $10,000, using a Rosenwald Foundation plan for a six-teacher school. Funding came from the Rosenwald Fund, local African American residents and the county school board. The H-shaped building has two gable-front classroom wings, a central section with a Doric-columned porch, and originally held an auditorium, office and "industrial" room. During the late 1920s through the 1940s it served the Riley Hill community, one of the largest rural Black communities in the county, as a place for plays, glee club performances, adult classes, vaccination clinics and farm meetings. Julius Rosenwald reportedly visited in 1928. A cafeteria and a gymnasium/auditorium were added in 1952. The school closed in 1970, later housed a Head Start program, and was bought by Riley Hill Baptist Church in 1991. It is now vacant. It is one of five surviving Rosenwald schools in the county.
Significance in brief: The school is significant under Criterion A for education, Black ethnic heritage and social history, because it served as an educational and social center for a large rural African American community. It is significant under Criterion C as a relatively intact example of the Rosenwald Foundation's design for a six-teacher brick school. It is one of only five remaining Rosenwald schools in Wake County.
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 01000415, listed April 25, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NC 2320, 0.2 mi. E of NC2318, Wendell |
|---|---|
| County | Wake County |
| Listed | April 25, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01000415 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1928-1951 |
| Architect / builder | Strickland Brothers, Builders |
| Architectural style | Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Black, Social History, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The form states the building is presently vacant; the church bought it in 1991 after the school closed in 1970. |
| Acreage | 4 |
| Coordinates | 35.85977, -78.41619 (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 01000415.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7334208
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.