Historic Huntersville school that was epicenter of Black learning still serves community 100 years later

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) - Before the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education, African American children faced a tremendous challenge when it came to formal learning.

But for more than 30 years, a school in north Mecklenburg County took on the task.

Tucked away in the historic Black community of Pottstown in Huntersville, sits a plain white building with a deep, colorful history.

In 2025, the historic school known as Huntersville Colored High School, then later the Torrence-Lytle High School, is a simple building sitting near the back of about a three-acre property in Huntersville.

But in the early 1900s -- when legal segregation and Jim Crow laws made it nearly impossible for Black children to receive a quality education -- this institution was the epicenter of Black learning.