City: Stuart   County: Martin   Year: 2024
Location: 4455 SE Murray Street

SIDE ONE: The Salerno Colored School was dedicated by the Martin County Board of Public Instruction on February 22, 1934. A Civil Works Administration project, the one-room, 25’ x 31’ frame elementary school was one of the first public schools in Martin County for African American children, who were excluded from schools designated for whites only due to legalized racial segregation. The building’s design reflects the one-room Rosenwald Community School Plan No. 1-A provided by Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald. Robert G. Murray served as the school’s first teacher and principal. Other early teachers included Alice H. Reynolds, Agnes Thompson, Marjorie B. Richardson, and Bernice Sweet. Costella H. Williams, who earned her master’s degree from the Tuskegee Institute, was the longest serving teacher and principal from 1943-1961. During her tenure, Mrs. Williams taught some of Martin County’s most esteemed educators. These included teacher and principal, Marian M. Carpenter, and the first elected Black member and Chairman of the Martin County School Board, Dr. David L. Anderson, who earned the distinction of being the longest-serving school board member in Florida. SIDE TWO: In 1961, students moved across the street to the new Carver Gardens Elementary School, which was renamed Murray Junior-Senior High School in honor of the educators in the Murray family. The schoolhouse was relocated behind Murray Ninth Grade School in 1967 and served as the art room. In 1980, the schoolhouse was moved to its current site in New Monrovia Park. The school board transferred ownership of the schoolhouse to Martin County in 1986. The community center built next to the Salerno Colored School in 1999 was named the Costella Williams Learning Center. After Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma in 2004 and 2005, it was thought that the storm-damaged schoolhouse could not be saved. Due to efforts by its former students and the African American community, Martin County conducted an extensive reconstruction and restoration in 2012. The Salerno Colored School was placed on the Martin County Historic Register on April 29, 2013, by the Martin County Historic Preservation Board.