Sardis Elementary School

Sardis Elementary School is a South Carolina historical marker in Salley, Aiken County, dedicated 2024.

Aiken County · dedicated 2024 · 268 Poplar St. SE, Salley, Salley

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Front: Sardis Elementary School opened at this site in 1954. The school served African American residents of Salley and surrounding areas and was built through the S.C. equalization program, a state effort to preserve segregation by upgrading Black schools. It replaced the nearby Sardis or Salley Colored School as well as Union Academy, which stood several miles outside of Salley. Both were originally Rosenwald schools. Reverse: Sardis Elementary School’s first principal at this site was Clyde Blassingale, a local teacher and farmer. The campus included three buildings and was designed by prominent Columbia architects Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff. Sardis remained an all-Black elementary school until 1970, when it became the integrated Sardis Multi-Media School. The campus later housed a Headstart program. It still stands.

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: South Carolina Historical Marker Program, SC Department of Archives and History
Sponsored by Aiken County Historical Society and S.C. African American Heritage Commission

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