St. Matthews School
Also known as: St. Matthew School
Why it's listed
Built in 1922 near Raleigh, St. Matthews School is a one-story frame schoolhouse on a hilltop beside St. Matthews Baptist Church. It was constructed from a standard two-teacher plan supplied by the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, with money from the foundation, the local African American community and the Wake County school board. The building has a hip roof, weatherboard siding, large nine-over-nine windows, two classrooms divided by a folding partition, and a third room used for industrial and home economics work. Grades one through seven were taught here until the school closed in 1949. Beyond classes, it hosted plays, adult education, home demonstration programs and meetings between farmers and county agents. The county sold it to the church trustees in 1949, and it was converted to apartments, then stood vacant and deteriorating in the late 1980s. The congregation began a full restoration in 1995. It is one of five Rosenwald schools remaining in Wake County and still serves as a community meeting hall.
Significance in brief: It is one of only five surviving Rosenwald Schools in Wake County, out of twenty-one built between 1919 and 1928. It served as an educational and social center for the local African American community from 1922 to 1949. It is significant in education, social history and ethnic heritage.
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 01000416, listed April 25, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | US 401, 0.5 mi NE of NC 2213, Raleigh |
|---|---|
| County | Wake County |
| Listed | April 25, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01000416 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1922-1949 |
| Architectural style | Vernacular (Rosenwald two-teacher school plan) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Black, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Now owned by St. Matthews Baptist Church and used as a social hall and for community meetings after a restoration begun in 1995. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Coordinates | 35.86036, -78.56111 (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.
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 01000416.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q21261645
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.