High Springs in Alachua County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Douglass High School

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, June 17, 2016

1. Douglass High School Marker

Inscription. Residents of High Springs saw the need for a public school for African Americans in 1886. By 1902, black students moved into the Red Schoolhouse, a two-story wood frame building previously constructed as a school for whites. White students moved into a two-story brick building named the High Springs Grammar School. The Red Schoolhouse was used by black students until it was destroyed by fire in 1925. A new school for blacks, the Douglass High School, was built on this site in 1930 at a cost of $11,500, with funds from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, and $1,000 raised locally by the African American community. The original Douglass School was a one-story stucco building with eight classrooms and a staff of five teachers. The school’s first senior class graduated in 1937. By 1951, the school had twelve teachers and an enrollment of 340 students. A separate school cafeteria building was constructed in 1955, and a three-classroom addition to the school was constructed in the 1960s. The school was subsequently renamed the Douglass Elementary School. Douglass was closed in 1970 in response to desegregation, and most of the school

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was torn down by the mid-1970s. Only the 1955 cafeteria building survives today.

Erected 2014 by Douglass Alumni, Douglass Historical Society and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-835.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education. In addition, it is included in the Rosenwald Schools series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1930.

Location. 29° 49.251′ N, 82° 35.46′ W. Marker is in High Springs, Florida, in Alachua County. It is at the intersection of Southeast Douglass Street and Northwest 180th Place, on the left when traveling north on Southeast Douglass Street. Marker is located in Catherine Taylor Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 18100 SE Douglass Street, High Springs FL 32643, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Florida.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, June 17, 2016

2. Douglass High School Marker

was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Railroading In High Springs (approx. 0.6 miles away); American Legion Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.6 miles away); High Springs, Florida (approx. 0.6 miles away); 1824 - The Bellamy Road - 1952 (approx. 4.4 miles away); Springhill Methodist Church/Traxler, Fla. (approx. 4.6 miles away); Spring Hill United Methodist Church / Bellamy Road (approx. 4.6 miles away); William Henry Traxler (approx. 4.6 miles away); City of Alachua (approx. 5.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in High Springs.

Douglass High School image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, June 17, 2016

3. Douglass High School

Credits. This page was last revised on June 15, 2020. It was originally submitted on June 14, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,026 times since then and 97 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 14, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.