Buttonwood School

In 1919 a school was established in the Buttonwood Methodist Church to serve the needs of “colored” students in the growing neighborhood. The first teacher was James Matthew Coulbourne. In 1926 a new one-room school housing grades 1-8 was built here on land obtained from the Lukens Steel Company. Funding for construction was provided by P. S. duPont and the Delaware School Auxiliary Association. Expanding enrollment resulted in the employment of a second instructor, Sylvester Woolford, in 1934. An additional classroom was added in 1938. Integration of local schools was initiated in 1955, and in 1957 the Buttonwood School was closed. The property was purchased by the Trustees of the New Castle Common in 1998, and conveyed to the Buttonwood Civic Association in 2002.