Location Information
(for the Eureka School)
Name:Eureka School
Address:412 Sixth Street, East
City/County:Hattiesburg, Forrest County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:1921
No. of Stories:2
Mississippi Landmark Information
Designated:07-14-2005
Recorded:08-04-2005
Book/Vol. No.:Book 966 Pages 064, 065
Easement Information
No. of Active Easements:3
Date Signed:10-03-2007
Expires:10-03-2032
Easement Type:Preservation/Maintenance
Book/Vol. No.:V.1022 Pg. 567-569
Date Signed:09-09-2011
Expires:09-09-2036
Easement Type:Preservation/Maintenance
Date Signed:02-10-2015
Expires:02-10-2040
Easement Type:Preservation/Maintenance
Book/Vol. No.:V. 1022 Pg. 567-569
Context/Comments
Built in 1921 and enlarged and remodeled in 1958, Eureka School was originally a high school for African American students.

It was designated a Mississippi Landmark on 14 July 2005.

It is included in "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (p. 321, PW35).
Brief Description
2-story, frame, multiple-bays-wide, hip roof, Colonial Revival school. The inset entry is located in the central pavilion with parapet, it is sheltered by a flat roof porch with a wide, smooth entablature and is supported by paired Tuscan columns resting on short, brick piers. The entry is a pair of 9-light/2-panel doors with 6-light transom and 4-light/1-panel sidelights accessed by an open air vestibule. Windows are 9/9 wood d-h-s in pairs and ribbons. The school has a pier foundation, brick and stucco cladding, exposed rafter tails, and an asphalt shingle roof.
Historic Information
This school was reported as being the "second modern, brick facility in Mississippi for [the] education of African Americans." The school served grades 1-12 from 1921-1949. In 1949 Royal Street School (Rowan High School) was constructed to relieve the overcrowding at Eureka School. After 1949, Eureka became an elementary school. From 1987 until the mid-1990s Eureka served as a Community Education Center; although other community education outreach programs operated in the building until the late 1990s. In 2008, MDAH provided funding for the restoration of the school in order to utilize the building as an African American Heritage and Cultural Museum with a focus on the Civil Rights Era and events occurring during Freedom Summer (1964). The school’s roof was heavily damaged by the 2013 tornado but has since been repaired.