Herring Hill Phillips School

Phillips School

NPS/ R. Maher

Quick Facts

Location:

Georgetown

Significance:

Formerly segregated school

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

First Priority Management

Amenities

1 listed

Wheelchair Accessible

Built in 1890, this school was established to educate the African American children living in the Herring Hill neighborhood. Declining property values and a lack of enrollment forced Phillips School to close in 1930. It was used for various other purposes before being turned into condominiums in 2002.

Other schools were built to serve African American children in other neighborhoods.  

• Billings School at 31st and Dumbarton, was by far the oldest but was forced to shut down in the 1820s due to lack of funds and community hostility. Mary Billings moved that school to a private home on H Street.

• The Chamberlain School was on 26th Street between P and Q and dated back to the time immediately after the Civil War but was quickly overcrowded. By 1885, surveys showed that more than 400 students were attending Chamberlain School. It was meant to serve a quarter of that number.

• The overcrowding at the Chamberlain school prompted the construction of Wormley School on Prospect Street to serve the African American population living west of Wisconsin Avenue. Philips school was build shortly after.

The Phillips School has been converted into condominiums. Please respect the privacy of residents.