County of site: Hardemann County
Location of school: 100 Allen Extension St. , Whiteville
Year Built: 1918-1920
African-American School
"The Alien-White School, built 1918-1920, is a one-story H-plan brick school building that has a brick and
concrete foundation and a metal gable and hipped roof. It was built according to Rosenwald School Plan 6-A, for a six-teacher school with auditorium and six classrooms. Situated in a residential area with no
landscaping, the vacant school building has been boarded up. The interior is in poor condition, but the
building retains sufficient integrity of design and materials.
"The south facade has a symmetrical central section, covered by a hipped roof, of seven bays. A central
entrance that is boarded by a new wood door is flanked by three window openings that are now boarded. At
the cornice are three sets of symmetrically placed small rectangular windows, each of fixed four pane lights.
The windows over the central entrance contain two two-over-two light windows. Flanking the central
entrance are three two-over-two light window frames. At the point where the central section meets the
gabled-end wings are wood doors that provide additional access to the building. The gabled-end wings are
solid brick walls, like the central section. On the east wing, a dedication marker for the H.C.T. S. (Hardeman
County Training School) was installed c. 1928. A concrete porch has two wood square posts that support a
flat roof, which has been covered in vinyl and metal. The metal roofing and vinyl eaves and gable fields are
c. 2002 when the owner took steps to stabilize and protect the school.
"The east and west elevations are similar. Both consist of three large bays, one for each classroom, and the
bay is composed of the typical Rosenwald bank of six nine-over-nine double-hung sash window frames. At
the approximate center of the east elevation a single wood door was installed c. 1980, when the building had
stopped being a school and was converted into an industrial facility.
"The north elevation, or rear of the school, has projecting brick gable wings like the facade. A metal shed
roof porch, supported by metal (east) and wood (west) posts, covers a central entrance of a double leaf door
capped with transom. Flanking the central entrance are two sets of three window frames. In the projecting
brick wings, there are two additional window openings. All windows openings are now boarded. At the
interior corners of both projecting wings are single entrances, now boarded, with shed roofs. These side
entrances and roofs date to the building's original construction.
"The interior was largely arranged around the auditorium, which comprised the dominant space of this type of
Rosenwald-plan building. In the original plan for the school, the front doors opened into a hallway that
ended at doors for the auditorium. On the west side of the hallway was the school office and a cloakroom.
On the east side was the school library and a cloakroom. The auditorium was a large (roughly 34 x 48 feet)
multi-purpose room. On the west and east side of the auditorium were the gabled wings, which contain three
classes on the west wing while the east wing contains the stage/community room, with a classroom on the
north and south sides of the stage/community room.
"In 2005, this original floor plan of the school is intact, with intact interior walls and roof trusses, although
some rooms were altered when the new adjacent elementary school was constructed in 1964 and the original
library space and office were converted into men's and women's restrooms. Later deterioration of the
interior took place when the building was abandoned over the past twenty years and the building was
stripped of its original floors on the west side classrooms and of its interior doors and school furnishings.
"Immediately north of the Alien-White School, and connected by a concrete sidewalk, is a 1964 brick
elementary school building that has a flat asphalt roof. The building has ten roughly equal sized classrooms on either side of a central hallway, with offices and restrooms located in the center of the building. The flat asphalt roof has been damaged for sometime and substantial deterioration of several classrooms has taken
place. (NC, due to date of construction)."
~ NRHP Nomination From