Oscar Street School

Front: Oscar Street School for African Americans opened at this site in 1930. The one-story, brick-veneer school cost $16,500 and was built by Jones-McKinney Co. It originally had six rooms with a capacity of 360 students. It was one of several local public schools building around that time for families in Greenville’s growing suburbs. The first principal of Oscar Street School was Abbie J. Chappelle (1899-1942). Reverse: Oscar Street School was an important institution for Greenville’s Southernside neighborhood. Many nearby families lived in small wooden houses, few of which remain. A 1961 addition to the school was funded by the S.C. equalization program, a state effort to preserve segregation by upgrading Black schools. The school closed in 1970 as part of countywide integration. It was demolished a few years later.