Macon County Training School: A Rosenwald School

The Macon County Training School (M.C.T.S), built on this site in 1925, was part of the Rosenwald school building program that matched funds from philanthropist Julius Rosenwald with community donations to build schools for African Americans during the era of segregation. By the 1930's one in every five rural southern schools for African Americans had been constructed with aid from the fund. One of two Rosenwald schools in the county, M.C.T.S. offered an alternative to privately funded schools, such as the Lamson-Richardson School in Marshaville. In the 1950's, M.C.T.S. became the main school for African Americans, offering first through twelfth-grade classes. The last class graduated in 1958 when M.C.T.S. closed, though county schools remained segregated. The building was demolished in 1999 and Magnolia Baptist Church was built at this site 2006.