Historic Preservation

Saving Our Treasure

In May 2008 the City of Sadieville purchased 714 Pike Street, the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Sadieville Rosenwald School, from the Mount Pleasant Trustees for $15,000.00. At the time of purchase City officials and the citizens knew that the property housed two very important community buildings. However, they didn’t know until later just what important historical significance these building had for the state and for the nation.

In 1884 T.J and Josie Burgess deeded a piece of land to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Trustees to build a place of worship in Sadieville. There is no record of when the church building was completed, but the bell has the year 1896 engraved on it.
Between 1917 – 1920 the Sadieville Rosenwald School was built with funds from the Rosenwald Fund, Scott County Board of Education and the community (for more information about Rosenwald Schools go to www.rosenwaldschools.org). The schools remained segregated until 1954. The Sadieville Rosenwald School was closed and the Mount Pleasant Church congregation used it as their fellowship hall. The Mount Pleasant Church closed in 2000.

In February 2010, Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Georgetown, Kentucky awarded the City of Sadieville with a $10,000.00 grant for the renovation of the school. In December 2010 Friends of Sadieville, Inc. presented a $2,000.00 check to the City of Sadieville for renovations. In May 2011 the National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the City of Sadieville $5,000.00 from the Alice Rosenwald Fund for the project. They also awarded the City with a $2,000.00 check for emergency funds to repair termite damage to the foundation.

The project was underway in the summer of 2011. James Miles Construction repaired the stone piers, restored the foundation and replaced deteriorated siding. Volunteers replaced the old roof with a new metal roof in the fall of 2011. In the summer and fall of 2012 Lucas Stone rehabbed the windows and replaced the doors. He also patched drywall on the walls and ceiling. Local citizens cleaned the interior and redid the pine floors. Wilson Painting, a local community business, donated time and materials to scrape and paint the exterior. Other citizens have loaned old desks, books and other items to the City which are on display in the building.

On September 8, 2012 during the Sadieville in September Festival, the building was dedicated and a ribbon cutting ceremony was held. The school serves as a museum/cultural center and has been used for meetings and educational events.