Concord Rosenwald School

MOUNT ENTERPRISE (RUSK COUNTY)

Completed in 1925 with support from the Julius Rosenwald School Building Program, the Concord School served as the only modern and functional educational facility for Black students in the surrounding rural communities.

The school closed in 1971 following the integration of local schools and remained largely vacant until 2008, when the Concord High School Alumni Association acquired the building with plans for its rehabilitation. Years of deferred maintenance and storm damage had left the structure in critical condition. Water infiltration had severely compromised the roof, walls, floors, and foundation, rendering the building unsafe.

In 2022, the project received a $75,000 grant from Preservation Texas’s Rural African American Heritage Grants Program, which supported vital stabilization and weatherproofing efforts. The project included extensive roof repairs, addressing severely deteriorated rafters, reinforcing the rafter-ceiling joist framing, installing new decking, and completing the work with a durable galvanized sheet metal roof. New siding was also installed on a portion of the building and all new exterior wood was primed and painted.

In addition, Preservation Texas worked with a graduate student from Stephen F. Austin State University’s Public History Program to prepare a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Concord Rosenwald School. The building was officially added to the Register in July of 2024.

IN THE NEWS: ‘Where history happened’: Alumni of segregated East Texas school work to restore building

Concord Rosenwald School circa 1930.

From left to right: Conor Herterich (Endangered Properties Manager, Preservation Texas), Arthur Graves, Alpheus Moss, Willie Adams (Concord High School Alumni Association Members), Evan Thompson (Executive Director, Preservation Texas) at the Concord Rosenwald School in 2023.

The Concord Rosenwald School after rehabilitation work in 2025.