St. Joseph's Industrial School is a historic former Black Catholic

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

and

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 ...

in Clayton,

Kent County, Delaware Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware. The county seat is Dover, the state capital of Delaware. It i ...

. 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 2002.

Building

It encompasses three contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and three contributing objects. They are the Italianate-style Chapel (1896), Colonial Revival-style Administration Building and Rectory (1951), St. Michael's Hall (1960), the Entry Arch (1896), and three figural marble religious statues. and '

History

The school was founded by the St. Joseph Society of the Sacred Heart and opened in 1896 as an educational institution for young

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

men during the time of segregation. The school was closed in 1972 by the Josephite Society, which established the St. Joseph Center for Prayer at the facility in 1973. In March 2002, the St. Joseph's Project Foundation purchased the property and secured a charter school to rehabilitate and occupy the buildings. It was added to the

the same year. A Marine Corps JROTC school known as First State Military Academy (part of the

New Tech Network New Technology High School is a secondary school located in Napa, California. It focuses on project-based learning, student-centered culture, college and workforce readiness, and technology integration. It is the flagship school of the New Tech N ...

) occupied the property as of 2014, still using the three main buildings.

References

External links

First State Military Academy website
African-American historic places School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Italianate architecture in Delaware Colonial Revival architecture in Delaware Educational institutions established in 1896 Schools in Kent County, Delaware National Register of Historic Places in Kent County, Delaware Josephite schools in the United States 1896 establishments in Delaware {{Delaware-NRHP-stub