Carpenter Schools

Built after the turn of the 20th century, Carpenter School No. 1 was one of three buildings built and donated to the city by the philanthropic Carpenter family for public schools in Natchez. Mimi Miller, Historic Natchez Foundation associate director, said the philanthropic efforts of the Carpenter family are often overlooked by Natchezians. "Our town will be forever indebted to the Carpenter family," she said. Besides the three schools, the family built and then donated many other structures to the city, and the Natchez-Adams School District and George W. Armstrong Public Library still benefit from a Carpenter trust fund, she said. A $2.1 million restoration of Carpenter No. 1 in 2000 was financed through a partnership with the city, the county, United Mississippi Bank, the Natchez Council on Aging, local investors and out-of-town investors and developers. Carpenter No. 1 had been left largely unused since the 1980s and had become a storage site for the school district. Associated Charities also used the building for a time. It took crews several weeks to clean and "gut" the building's interior, a tedious process that cost almost $250,000, Johnston said. Because the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the exterior of the building will not be altered by the restoration. Sue Stedman, Natchez alderwoman and public properties chairwoman, said the restoration of Carpenter No. 1 will help round out the city's L.U.M.P.s program, an initiative begun by former Mayor Larry L. "Butch" Brown to restore and adapt large, unused municipal properties.

A postcard in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Cooper Postcard Collection, showing the school is online at http://mdah.state.ms.us/bugle/cooper/index.php?itemno=2035 (2009). "Carpenter's School No. 1, Natchez, Miss.", Natchez, Mississippi, Adams County, 19-- ,

Source: The Natchez Democrat Staff: "Carpenter School apartments on track for fall completion", published Thursday, December 7, 2000, http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/2000/dec/07/carpenter-school-apartments-on-track-for-fall/ (2009).