The site of the school was dedicated to African-American education in 1868, when Alexander Fain, Jordan Netherland, Albert Jones and Nathaniel Mitchell bought the land "for the purpose of building a schoolhouse for the education of colored children." A schoolhouse was built and used until the early 1900s. The current building replaced it in 1922.[2] Price Public Elementary School was considered a feeder school to Swift Memorial College (1883–1952), a private HBCU in Rogersville.[2]
Price School operated until 1958,[3] when it closed and its students were transferred to Swift High School, which was converted from a high school to a grade K-12 school.[4] When integration took place in Rogersville, during the 1960s, the city's African-American elementary school students were transferred to Rogersville City School, also a K-8 institution. The Price School building was subsequently used as a cannery, a community center, and a storage building,[2] then was abandoned and became run-down.
The building underwent a restoration beginning in the mid-1990s as a result of cooperative efforts between the town, the local African-American community, the local American Legion Auxiliary, the Chamber of Commerce, the Rogersville Heritage Association, and other civic organizations.[4] The project was aided by a rural development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[2] Following restoration, in 2003 the Price Public Community Center opened in the building.[2]
The Swift Museum in the center opened to the public in 2008.[5] The community center and museum offer resources for learning and teaching about African-American history and culture.[2][4]
