Walking Tour

The Cumming Street School was built in 1926 as the first modern high school for Black students in Spartanburg County. Portions of the building are used for storage and as the headquarters of the college’s Facilities Department. In “The Architecture & Art of James Frank Collins (1883-1969),” with research undertaken by architectural students of Dr. Karen Goodchild, Chapman Professor of Art History, the Cumming Street School building is described as constructed of “painted cement blocks, a material notably less expensive than the brick used at the Southside Elementary, a school for white children. The Cumming Street School façade is less ornamented than Southside, being completed plain aside from a series of slightly protruding strips of cement that alternate with the building’s unadorned windows.” The description further explains that Cumming Street School and Southside Elementary are similar in shape and symmetry, both being long, two-story rectangles with a central focus. “Cumming Street School is considerably smaller than Southside, even though the former was built to serve all grades of African-American school children. Without doubt that era’s attitudes toward race account for at least some of the disparities between the two structures.”

Across the street from Cumming Street School is the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, which was donated by Richardson and opened in 2017. The facility contains a basketball arena, which can hold up to 3,400 spectators. It also houses a volleyball arena, with seating for up to 350 people. The building serves as the home for Wofford’s basketball teams, as well as lacrosse and volleyball.

In 2021 Jerry Richardson made a $150 million gift to the college’s endowment. Portions of the money are being used to support building maintenance and to raise the minimum compensation pool on campus to $15 per hour. The majority of the funds are used to support need-based scholarships and opportunities for experiential learning.