Located in Heardmont, this unnamed school sits next to the Bethel Grove Baptist Church. My assumption is that it is called the Bethel Grove School. I am still looking for info. The church was founded in 1885. This was verified as a school in an oral history project I found online titled, “In Those Days, African American Life near the Savannah River.” According to Georgia Resources Survey, the school was built in 1915.
Founded in 1866 by freedmen and women on Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation as Broadfield Baptist Church. The structure was built in the 1870s and was redesigned when the congregation moved to its current location in 1885. At the time of the move, the congregation changed its name to Needwood Baptist Church. The one-room school was built in 1907 and used until the state of Georgia began school consolidation in the 1950s.
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Camden County
In celebration of its 100th year, descendants of students who attended Kinlaw Rosenwald School are restoring this 3-teacher type school. Once the restoration is complete, this school will serve the Kinlaw community for years to come.
When I visited with my friend, Brian, we were lucky enough to meet one of the men helping go restore the building, Marshall Glover. You can read more about the school and donate money by visiting the school’s site.
The Harrington School served the Black communities of St. Simons Island starting in the 1920s. It is not a Rosenwald school, but it is based on the one-teacher type plans. In 2011, it was listed as a Georgia Place in Peril. The community was able to save the building, and it reopened in June 2021.
The Poplar Spring School sits on the grounds of the Poplar Spring United Methodist Church. Built when the church was a part of Campbell County, this is a beautiful example of a one-teacher type school.
The church began in 1867 in a brush arbor. This is at least the third physical structure the church has had in it’s history. You can read more of their history on the chirch’s website. Outside of the church and school, there is a small cemetery and picnic area on the church grounds.
This church was formed after the Civil War. The first church building was built in the early 1900s. The one-room school was likely built right after the main church building was built. It’s a rare pre-Rosenwald school that is still standing.
