With support from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the African American community, and public funds, Dunbar Rosenwald School was built in 1923 at a cost of $5,700. As the county’s only Rosenwald school for approximately 258 school-age children countywide in 1930, Dunbar was a community landmark. In keeping with a basic Rosenwald Fund objective, events took place there throughout the year. With the onset of school desegregation in Loudon in 1963, Dunbar closed in 1965. St. Peter's Lodge #30 F & AM purchased the building at auction in 1966, and it became known as the Dunbar Community Center.