The former Edward U. Taylor School (19501 White Ground Road, Boyds, MD) is being considered by the Montgomery County Planning Board for historic designation. The school was built as an elementary school for Black students at a time when Montgomery County used legally sanctioned racial segregation to prohibit Black children from attending white schools. The Modern Movement-influenced building was completed in 1952, and features several additions built between 1954 and 1969. The facility was built to modern school design standards and represents the cumulative efforts of the county’s Black community to obtain better facilities and opportunities after decades of public underinvestment in educational facilities for Black children.
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine, forcing Montgomery County Public Schools to end its system of racial segregation. The Taylor School was one of the last county schools to desegregate, in 1961, and was the only segregated Black elementary school to retain its original function.
The building currently serves as the Taylor Science Center for the processing and storage of science kits for Montgomery County Public Schools.
The recommendation to study the school was brought forward in the MARC Rail Communities Plan (2019) and our Historic Preservation Office has worked to evaluate the site for designation as an amendment to the Master Plan of Historic Preservation. Learn more about the school's story and legacy.
