Dennis High School, also known as Dennis Elementary School and Dennis Primary School, is a historic

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

building for African-American students located at

Bishopville Bishopville is a town in Lee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,471 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lee County. Geography Bishopville is located at (34.219027, -80.248877) near Lee State Park. According t ...

Lee County, South Carolina Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,531, making it the fifth-least populous county in South Carolina. Its county seat is Bishopville. History The county is named f ...

. White students attended Bishopville High School, three blocks away. Although the law provided for a separate but equal education, $71,000 was allocated to build Bishopville for the whites while only Dennis was built for $17,000. The expenditures for student at BHS were $48.38 per student, but only $5.68 for each Black student at Dennis. When Dennis High School later burned down, the Black students were just made to double up with the elementary students for 12 years. Dennis was the only school in the county for black students, and no public bus service was provided until 1952. The original L-shaped building is a one-story, load-bearing red brick

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 structure that rests on a masonry foundation. Recessed symmetrical wings flank the main block. A third wing, which gave the building its original L-shape, houses the auditorium. A single classroom addition was built in 1954. It was added to 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 2005.

References

African-American history of South Carolina High schools in South Carolina School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Colonial Revival architecture in South Carolina School buildings completed in 1936 Schools in Lee County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Lee County, South Carolina {{LeeCountySC-NRHP-stub