Have fun on the playground and basketball court at Norbeck-Muncaster Mill Neighborhood Park. Enjoy the picnic area on a sunny day or rent the Norbeck Recreation Building, convenient to Muncaster Mill Road. Montgomery Parks acquired this 5.5-acre park in 1965.
History: When Schools were Segregated
From the late 1920s until 1951, African American children attended elementary school in the building that is now a park activity building. Known as the Norbeck Rosenwald School, it replaced the Mt. Pleasant Colored School. A fixture of the surrounding Black community, the original school was built in 1872. It was one of the first county-funded schools for African American children.
Norbeck was one of at least fifteen segregated Rosenwald schools built in Montgomery County between 1920 and 1929. African American residents contributed $7,300 collectively to match $8,200 donated by Sears co-owner and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932). The remaining $61,320 came from public tax revenue. The Norbeck school costs $5,300 to build.
The two-room Norbeck school had only one teacher for many years. Former student Mabel D. Jackson remembers substandard conditions, “There were no inside facilities, water, or central heat. We had free books but never any new ones. These books were dirty, ragged, marked in, and often had pages missing.” Norbeck closed in 1951, three years before the 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education overturned school segregation. In 1957, county authorities developed plans to convert the school into a community facility.
Park Features
- Activity Building
- Basketball court – lighted
- Playground
- Open Field
Facilities available to rent at the park.
Tour Activity Building
To arrange a tour of this Park Activity Building before renting, contact the Park Permits Office to obtain access to the building and the alarm codes.
Monday to Friday – 8:30am to 4:30pm