Demolition began last week on the former Brown Elementary school. The school, located at 12th Street and Highland Avenue, was first built in 1914 for black students during segregation and closed in 1984. Housing Authority of Winston-Salem (HAWS) acquired the building in 2014 and it was gutted by a fire last year. HAWS plans to build 120 units of multi-family senior housing on the site.
The school was named for its longtime principal, Robert Washington Brown, who was also a founding partner of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company. HAWS plans to memorialize the school’s history in some manner on the property.
