Black Segregation Era School In Chester County

The Pryor School 1898 - 1956 in Chester County, SC.

On SC Highway 9 in Chester County about halfway between the city of Chester and town of Richburg stands a small, one-room wooden rural schoolhouse on private property. 

Built in 1898, the Pryor School was a schoolhouse for African-American students in the community that was supported by a church of the same name that no longer stands. The school itself operated between 1898 until 1956, a few years after the US Supreme Court decision Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka that ended Jim Crow Era segregation of schools in the United States. 

In order to stave off integration, South Carolina began building new schools for black students in the 1950s that were known as "equalization schools" despite the fact most were not equal to their white counterparts, and students at these "colored only" schools were often given poorer quality school text books and supplies. 

It was during the 1950s that many schools consolidated, leaving small rural schoolhouses like the Pryor School empty. Despite the landmark US Supreme Court decision which ordered American schools -- particularly those in the South -- to desegregate, although most South Carolina schools did not fully desegregate until the 1960s. 

During the 1980s, a local family leased the land which the school stands on and grew fruit and corn on the property. The schoolhouse was then used as a fruit stand to sell the harvested fruit and vegetables. 

Today the school is closed and in the hands of private landowners. The building and contents are well-maintained and preserved. 

The Pryor School as seen from SC Hwy 9 traveling east.

Interior of the Pryor School.

Blogger Update! 09-28-2018

I regret to report that sometime in the fall of 2018, the Pryor School was demolished because of roadwork and expansion of SC Highway 9 between the towns of Chester and Richburg, this despite an unsuccessful attempt by the site's owners trying to secure financing for a relocation. The disposition of the building's contents are not known.