Melrose: A Model for Reuse
Melrose High School teaches us an important lesson. It’s not the bricks and mortar that make a school; it’s the people, culture, and tradition.
“The first school in Orange Mound, a small one-room building on Spottswood Avenue, opened in 1890. Later, in 1914, this school was replaced by a Rosenwald school. In 1938, a Works Project Administration initiative expanded Melrose School into a 79-room K-12 facility on Dallas Street. The new building included labs, a library, a gym, and a music room. By 1972, Melrose High School opened on Deaderick Avenue as a separate building and still serves the community today.” – Black History in Memphis – The Orange Mound Story, Memphis Museums of Science and History
By count, that’s four “different” schools under one umbrella of affiliation with the Orange Mound neighborhood and the name, or idea, of a Melrose School.
The Dallas Street location, which closed in 1981, is sometimes referred to as “Historic Melrose.” As students there excelled academically and in athletics, the spirit of Melrose and its Golden Wildcats became solidified and unbreakable.
That spirit lives on in the approximately 800 students in grades 9-12 who attend Melrose High School on Deadrick Avenue and in those who crowd the bleachers of Melrose Stadium during football season.
Four locations over time, but one school. Melrose continues to be the pride of Orange Mound because of the people, culture, and tradition. The Melrose High School Alumni Association proudly has chapters in Memphis, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles.
Next Chapter
“Historic Melrose” was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, but it remained shuttered and boarded up for years. In 2021, after some remediation work and an open house to solicit ideas, the City of Memphis announced that $10 million had been designated to rehab and update the building. An additional $3 million was added the following year through an appropriation obtained by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen.
With much fanfare and joy, the Orange Mound Library and Genealogy Center at the “Historic Melrose” location opened to the public in April 2024. The new library branch is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Along with offering some 4,500 books and other items, the branch hosts a variety of near-daily programs and events catering to all ages and interests. Recent offerings include Lego Club, Story Time, Bookworm Bingo, Computer Basics, a Mental Health Fair, and the Historic Melrose Lecture Series.
Just as it was for so many years as “Historic Melrose,” the Orange Mound Library and Genealogy Center is a community hub that shows what is possible if we allow ourselves to think creatively about building reuse.
Sources: Memphis Public Libraries, Melrose High School Alumni Association, orangemound.com, Memphis Heritage Inc., Memphis Museums of Science and History