Built in 1874 for the African American community, this building served as a school for children in the Loreley area and as the home of a benevolent society founded in 1872. Beginning in the late 18th century, such mutual aid societies, often formed by church congregations, were part of a national humanitarian movement that provided emergency assistance to members in times of sickness, accident, and death, and benefited communities through social, commercial, and political networks.