York County · Marker 46-79
Durkee Training Institute
West side of Saluda St., 1/10 mi. north of Albright Rd. (S.C. Hwy. 121), Rock Hill
Front inscription
Durkee Training Institute, an African American vocational school, opened in 1932 on Crawford Rd. and moved to this site by 1937-1938. It was founded by Rock Hill native William Mason Chisolm, who named it for benefactor Rev. J. Stanley Durkee. First a girls school, it soon became coeducational and served kindergarteners through adults, many from poor families. It enrolled 200-400 pupils by the 1950s.
Chisolm Training Institute
In 1951-1952 the school was renamed Chisolm Training Institute. A graduate of Drake University and the University of Heidelberg, Chisolm served as the school’s president and lived on-site. He led construction of the campus, which included several half-timbered stone buildings. The school closed around 1962, when Chisolm was killed at a country store he owned. The school no longer stands.