Southwest Corner of Millwood and Gervais Streets
Site of Waverly Elementary School
Road reorientation and the evolution of Millwood Avenue's commercial enterprises erased a physical link to early education in Lower Waverly. White and black students initially were educated within segregated sections of the Waverly School, established between 1901 and 1903. By 1912, blacks had their own school, known as the Waverly Graded School, which stood at 2424 Gervais Street. By 1949, this institution had moved to 1225 Oak Street, the former location of the Waverly School for white students (shown here), where it operated exclusively for African-American students until its closing in 1958.
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Waverly Elementary School, 1920s. From A True Likeness, The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts: 1920-1936. (c) The Estate of Richard Samuel Roberts, by permission of Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia
What began as Millwood Avenue in the early 20th century became Dillon Street around 1953. The Millwood Avenue that exists today was created south of Gervais and east of old Millwood, now Dillon Street, and is contiguous to Two Notch Road, a connection created by the addition of a road between Lady and Lyon streets during the mid 1900s. This aerial map shows that Millwood Avenue had been repaved and connected to Legare Street by 1951.