First Rosenwald School opened in Western Wake County Timelines: Past

During the Jim Crow era, public funding for black education was minimal in the South. A Jewish philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald, and a Black educator, Booker T. Washington, collaborated to create the Rosenwald Fund, which bridged the gap by helping African-American communities build public schools.

In 1923, the Friendship Rosenwald School opened on Humie Olive Road. In the same year, the New Hill Rosenwald School opened at the corner of New Hill Holleman Road and Church Road and the Holly Springs Rosenwald School opened on Stinson Avenue. In 1932, the Apex Rosenwald School opened on Tingen Road. In the 1950s, many Rosenwald Schools closed. Friendship and New Hill Rosenwald Schools closed first, and those students attended Apex Rosenwald School. Later, the Apex Rosenwald School became Apex Consolidated (opened in 1952)  and today is the location for Apex Elementary School.