Probably established in 1880 on the Carson Property, the Central African-American School was later established at its present site with an enrollment of 60 students. In 1913, 45 students were enrolled, average attendance was 29, the term lasted 100 days, the teacher held a first grader certificate, and the salary was $25 a year. From a one-teacher school, Central advanced to three teachers and eight grades by 1940, then returned to a two-teacher facility in 1946 and had an enrollment of 56 students in 1949. In 1949, the building was a white, four-room wooden structure with a ceiled interior painted light green and brown, containing two classrooms, a dining room, and a kitchen; the classrooms could be converted into an auditorium by removing a beaverboard partition, the primary room had tables and chairs, the intermediate room had double desks, and both rooms used coal heaters. In 1949, an assistant teacher taught 1st-3rd grade while the principal taught 4th–7th grade, and after finishing grammar school, students went by bus to Liberty Colored School. In 1957, the Pickens County School District and Pickens County Board of Education closed the school and donated use of the facility to Central Community Center trustees James Watkins, Franklin Gaines, and Israel Hamilton for community use unless it was again needed for school purposes. Over the years, members of the Central Community Center used the facility for gatherings for the Black community and also took part in the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor, the Central Heritage Society, and other groups promoting tourism and historic preservation in the Upstate of South Carolina.