Bettis Academy and Junior College is a historic African-American

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

school complex and national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located near Trenton,

Edgefield County, South Carolina Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,657. Its county seat and largest municipality is Edgefield. The county was established on March 12, 17 ...

. Bettis Academy and Junior College was established in 1881 and closed in 1952. The complex now consists of three contributing buildings and one contributing site, all dating from the last 20 years of the institution. The remaining buildings are the rock-faced Alexander Bettis Community Library (1939); a

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

-form building with a dual-pitched pyramidal roof; the stuccoed brick Classroom Building (1935); and the rock-faced

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

style Biddle Hall (1942). The library was originally the Iowa City Unit of the Faith Cabin Libraries that was built by the students. It was later named the Alexander Bettis Community Library. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1998.

References

African-American history of South Carolina School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Colonial Revival architecture in South Carolina School buildings completed in 1942 Buildings and structures in Edgefield County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Edgefield County, South Carolina 1935 establishments in South Carolina {{EdgefieldCountySC-NRHP-stub