Preservation Plan; Structural Stabilization
Envelope and Exterior Reinforcement Projects

The Franklin Street School was designated a contributing building within the Cape May National Register Historic District in 1995 for its significance to local African American history.

Designed in the Colonial Revival Style by the architectural firm of Edwards and Green of Philadelphia and Camden, the architecture embodies the profound and often awkward social boundaries that segregation imposed on communities. The Franklin Street School is two buildings in one: the elementary school in front, for African American children, and the rear gymnasium for Cape May integrated high school. There is no internal connection between these two parts of the overall building.

The School’s construction began on December 6, 1927 at a formal cornerstone laying and opened in September 1928. The school was converted to an annex for Cape May City High School in 1948 after segregation in New Jersey’s public schools was banned by the new state constitution.

Today, the Center for Community Arts is rehabilitating the School for use as a community cultural center and the focal point for African American heritage tours of the area. The structural stabilization, envelope and exterior reinforcement project was completed in 2007. Funding for the Franklin Street School Rehabilitation Project has been made possible in part by the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Black United Fund of New Jersey, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.