Conway in Horry County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Whittemore School
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Whittemore High School
Photographed by Charles Wright, March 7, 2021
1. Whittemore School Marker
Whittemore School. Whittemore School, one of the first African-American schools in Horry County, educated elementary and high school students on this site from 1936 to 1970. Founded in 1870, it was named for Benjamin F. Whittemore (1824-1894), former Union army chaplain, Freedmen's Bureau educator 1865-67, and later a state senator and U.S. Congressman. The first school was just E on Race Path Ave. After it burned, classes moved to the Conwayborough Academy on 5th Ave.
Whittemore High School. A new Whittemore Training School was built at Race Path Ave. and Thompson St. in 1911, with students in grades 1-9 until 1929, 1-10 until 1933, and 1-11 afterwards. A new school built here in 1936 burned in 1944 and occupied temporary buildings until separate new elementary and high schools were completed in 1954. Grade 12 was added in 1949. The schools closed when Horry County schools desegregated in 1970.
Erected 2011 by The Whittemore High School Historical Marker Commission. (Marker Number 26 26.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education.
Location. 33° 50.222′ N,
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Conway High School (approx. one mile away); Benjamin Grier Collins (approx. 1.2 miles away); Horry County Veterans Memorial (approx. 1.2 miles away); Pentagon Limestone
Photographed by Charles Wright, March 7, 2021
2. Whittemore School Marker
Also see . . . Whittemore was only black school in Horry for many years. Horry Independent website (2/11/21). A brief history of Whittemore High School is given as told by Etrulia Dozier, a former librarian at Whittemore High School. A more detailed history of the school by Etrulia Dozier can be found in a 1968 edition of the Independent Republic Quarterly.
As told by Etrulia Dozier - "The high school had a winning football team, an amazing band and a community with great students and admired teachers."(Submitted on March 7, 2021, by Charles Wright of Surfside Beach, South Carolina.)
Photographed by Charles Wright, March 7, 2021
3. Whittemore School Marker
Photographed by Charles Wright, March 7, 2021
4. Whittemore School Marker
Photographed by Charles Wright, March 7, 2021
5. Whittemore School Marker
Photographed by Independent Republic Quarterly, 2011, Vol.45, No. 1 photo (CCU Digital Commons)
6. Whittemore Training School Class of 1935
The school was located at the corner of Racepath Avenue and Thompson Street in Conway South Carolina.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 12, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 7, 2021, by Charles Wright of Surfside Beach, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 2,575 times since then and 93 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on March 7, 2021, by Charles Wright of Surfside Beach, South Carolina. 6. submitted on March 10, 2021, by Charles Wright of Surfside Beach, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
