Fire destroys Latta House

RALEIGH — An early morning fire destroyed Latta House, the last remaining building of a historic vocational school for African-Americans founded more than 100 years ago by a former slave.

The fire began shortly before 4 a.m. today in the 1000 block of Parker Street off Oberlin Road.

It was reported at about 4 a.m. by Bill Shepherd, the building’s caretaker, who saw flames from his home directly across the street from the former school that has been designated a historic landmark by the Raleigh Historic Commission. The two-story home, which sat on two acres of land, is framed by stately oak trees and flanked by white day lilies. It is one of several historic city landmarks in the Oberlin community along with three other homes and a church.

Latta University was founded in 1892 by Rev. L. Morgan Latta. The school’s stated aim was “to solve the race problem.” But it lasted only a few years. The State Archives has a copy of its catalog and the founder’s autobiography.

Shepherd, who helped to start the Lata House Foundation, was crestfallen while viewing what the badly destroyed building. Shepherd, a native of Wilmington and a reggae musician, has spent the past 10 years trying to raise money to rehabilitate the old school and transform it into a community resource. The group had appealed to local and state authorities for resources but with little success. Shepherd said the foundation needed a shade under $1 million to buy the place and renovate it. Despite the ambitious plans, Shepherd said the group has only $200 in their bank account.

“The next step is the bulldozer,” Shepherd said.

Fire officials have not determined a cause for the fire, which consumed the two-story building and reduced it to a tottering pile of charred lumber.

”It’s not even safe for our guys to go in there due to the instability of the building,” said H.F. Warner, a division chief with the Raleigh Fire Department.

Warner said fire investigators will use heavy equipment to dismantle the old house. Then they will inspect each piece of burned material taken out of the wooden home to find out how the fire started.