“Progress Continues to Preserve Historic Black Schoolhouse in Faust Park”

The reconstruction of a historic Black schoolhouse is continuing in Chesterfield, with completion possible by the end of the year.

St. Louis County officials are piecing together African School #4 at Faust Park’s Historic Village. It opened in 1894, and county parks officials say it is the oldest surviving one-room schoolhouse for African Americans in the state.

The school was built after Black residents successfully sued in 1893. One teacher taught about a dozen students who were in first through eighth grade. After shutting down in the 1950s, the building was converted into a garage. St. Louis County officials were able to persuade a different owner to turn it over to the county.