Around the year 1908, county officials had the Lutherville Colored School built for the African-American community to satisfy the “separate but equal laws " that were practiced in this era. There were not many schools in Baltimore County and as a result, African-American children traveled from miles around to attend the Lutherville Colored School. Students came from as far away as Beaver Dam, Cockeysville, Bare Hills, Texas, Ruxton, Lake Roland and other Baltimore County communities.
In the early days of the Lutherville schoolhouse, it became a two room structure. One room for the 1st through 3rd grades and another for grades 4 through 7. The rooms were heated by a pot- bellied stove and lit by oil lamps- the building did not have electricity or running water- there were two out houses in the back yard, one for girls, one for boys.
Mrs. Beatrice Thompson Browser Brown was a teacher at the Lutherville Colored School from 1918 until the 1940s. Students called her Miss Bea, she taught the first three grades.
The African-American community in Lutherville settled in areas known as “up the hill”
(Bellona Ave. and Lincoln Ave. near Edgewood UM church)
“down the hill” (Railroad Avenue) and “cross the
tracks” (Seminary Avenue and School Lane)
Sports played an important part in the lives of the people in the Lutherville community. There were organized softball teams that played with teams from other neighborhoods. The field adjacent to the Lutherville Colored School was used for recreational activities.
