Saluda Rosenwald School

Front: In 1924-25 a new school building for African American residents of Saluda was built near here with support from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. It followed a six-teacher plan and nearly half its cost was paid by local African Americans. The campus served high school and elementary students. By the 1950s it had an agriculture and shop building, an elementary grade building, and a Faith Cabin Library. Reverse: Riverside High School opened next to the old Rosenwald campus in 1954. It replaced all other Black schools in Saluda County and was funded by the S.C. equalization program, an effort to preserve segregation by upgrading Black schools. Approx. 1,000 students in grades 1-12 attended Riverside upon its opening. It became a middle school in 1970 during countywide integration and closed in 2001.