Little Rock Central High National Historic Site

Little Rock Central High School is recognized for the role it played in the desegregation of public schools in the United States. The admission of nine African-American students to the formerly all-white Central High School was the most prominent national example of the implementation of Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Little Rock Central High School (LRCHS) is an accredited comprehensive public high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Central High School was the site of forced school desegregation during the American Civil Rights Movement. Central is located at the intersection of Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive (named for the civil rights leader and formerly known as 14th Street) and Park Street. Central can trace its origins back to 1869 when the Sherman School operated in a wooden structure at 8th and Sherman streets, which produced its first graduating class on June 13, 1873. In 1885 the Sherman School was moved to 14th and Scott streets and was aptly named Scott Street School but was more commonly called City High School. Five years later in 1890, the Peabody School was constructed at West Capitol and Gaines streets. It was named in honor of philanthropist George Peabody from US$200,000 received via the Peabody Education Fund. In 1905, the city founded Little Rock High School at the intersection of 14th and Cumberland streets, and shuttered the Peabody and Scott Street schools to serve as the city's sole public high school. In 1927 at a cost of US$1.5 million, the city completed construction on the nation's largest and most expensive high school facility that remains in use today. In 1953 with the construction of Hall High School, the school was renamed to its present-day name of Little Rock Central High School and has since been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and named as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.