Old School House

Believed to have been the first schoolhouse in Dorchester County, this little building was built in 1785 prior to the establishment of a public school system.  It was one of several small schools on the island, and was located on the north end of the Island on the road to James Island.  It is fifteen feet square and constructed with hand-hewn timbers, hand-made nails, and wooden pegs.  It could seat about twelve pupils.  Originally, it had a stove pipe hole in each wall so the pipe could be shifted to suit the prevailing wind.  It was purchased in 1855 for $90.00 by Travers Spicer of  “Mulberry Grove” and used as a smoke house.  It remained there until 1959 when the James K. Spicer heirs gave it to the Grace Foundation.  The Grace Foundation first used it as a utility building, then restored it to its present condition in 1984. The schoolhouse is located on the right hand side of the road 1 mile straight from the bridge that brings you onto the island.

Tom Neild & Lynn Geleta inside the historic schoolhouse  after the Annual Grace Foundation Meeting in 2016.