Rejected once, Black history advocates seeking marker for one-room Martin County schoolhouse
MARTIN COUNTY — State historic officials have rejected local efforts to get a Port Salerno schoolhouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but they now hope to obtain a state historical marker for the site.
The Florida Division of Historical Resources requires community members to apply for a marker for the New Monrovia One-Room Schoolhouse. If they're approved, they may again seek national recognition for the building, historic research volunteer Julie Preast said.
"We see this as a potential historical designation asset in Martin County," said Rob Steele, president and CEO of the Historical Society of Martin County. "It's our hope it'll have thousands of visitors every year."
The structure is the only remaining one-room schoolhouse on the Treasure Coast, county officials believe. It was restored in 2013 and is on the Local Register of Historic Landmarks.
But the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation in June denied the local request by community members for the national designation.
School educated Black children
The wooden schoolhouse, also known as the Salerno Colored School, was built around 1930.
The 25-by-30-foot building is adjacent to the Costella Williams Learning Center, 4455 SE Murray St. in New Monrovia Park.
The school was one of the first in Martin County to educate Black children, county historic preservation officials say on a website dedicated to the schoolhouse.
"Former students fondly remember it as 'Mrs. Williams School,'" the website says, referring to Costella Williams, who taught there for many years.
The goal is the get the schoolhouse on the National Register of Historic Places, said Preast. But it's unlikely unless the requirements for national recognition are eased. Even if local activists make a few changes to the schoolhouse, Preast believes, chances are slim.
Community members still will try to get a state marker, she said.
Challenges to overcome
The Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation rejected the schoolhouse for the National Register in part because the building had been moved twice and because its orientation had been changed, Preast said.
The schoolhouse is 75 feet from where it originally stood.
Also, little is left of the original materials used to build it following neglect and hurricane damage.
Advocates were going to try to move the rectify things with any eye toward eventual national recognition, Preast said.
But they will wait for a few years to see if the state's rules for getting on the National Register are eased.
"All we can do is remain hopeful," Preast said.
"We do have some challenges to overcome," said Lloyd Jones, a Port St. Lucie resident and retired captain of the Martin County Sheriff's Office, whose focus has been on issues in Martin County.
Jones is the founder of the nonprofit Martin County Black Heritage Initiatives and is advocating for the state marker.
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In addition, Jones wants to use the schoolhouse as Martin County's first Black history museum with the help of county government, his group, other nonprofits and the Martin County School District.
"We want to do Black History every day," Jones said. "We want to do American history every day."
Keith Burbank is TCPalm's watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Advocates seek historic marker for Martin County one-room schoolhouse
