Witherspoon Street School for Colored Children

Witherspoon Street School for Colored Children is a brick building in Princeton, New Jersey, designed in Colonial Revival style with a distinctive central cupola. Located at 35 Quarry Street, the structure has been converted into residential apartments while preserving its original architectural features.

The school opened in 1858 to serve Black children in Princeton and closed in 1948 when the city integrated its public schools. This shift ended the era of separate schools and marked the beginning of desegregation in the district.

The school served as a community hub for Princeton's Black residents during an era of segregated education. Its presence reflected how communities built their own institutions when public systems excluded them.

The building now houses private apartments and is not open to the public inside, but visitors can view its exterior and architectural style from the street. The location is easy to find and worth a brief visit to see the preserved facade and understand its historical role.

While the school for Black students struggled with limited space, records showed the white school was overcrowded, revealing the contradiction built into segregation itself. This paradox helps visitors understand how arbitrary and wasteful separate systems truly were.

Location: Princeton

GPS coordinates: 40.35310,-74.66290

Latest update: December 13, 2025 11:41