Richard Allen School

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Delaware did not have a comprehensive state-wide education system. By 1915, Delaware schools were ranked among the poorest in the country. Worse yet, African American students often attended dilapidated schools under deplorable conditions. Seeing an opportunity to help all students in Delaware, Pierre S. du Pont used his wealth to invest in Delaware public education by breaking ground on 80 new schools throughout the state. This is the site of the Richard Allen School, an African American school that opened in the late 1920s replacing the school at nearby Prospect AME Church. The school was named after Richard Allen, a freed slave and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in the late 18th Century in Philadelphia. When the Richard Allen School opened, it became the focal point of the African American community in Georgetown and many events were hosted here. The school was used until desegregation was fully implemented in Delaware.