School House on Woodward Rd
Aaron Tester - Liminal Space Photography. Negro School of Sperryville, Virginia
Located just around the bend on the road from where I grew up, this school house was originally located inside what is now the park boundary, but was later moved into it’s present location on Woodward Rd in Sperryville. According to Mr. Lewis, on whose property the school house is currently located, it was closed some time in the late 1920’s or early 30’s. His older siblings attended the school before its closure. This school was for the African American families in the area prior to its closure, and long before the period of segregation of blacks and whites had concluded in the state of Virginia. According to topographic maps that date from between 1915 to 1945, a school house was located a short distance from Rt 211, and is labeled as the Atkin’s School.
Mr. Thomas Lewis
A very special thank you to Thomas Lewis who shared a brief history of this building that I had often wondered about, and had always assumed to be a garage or just an outbuilding of some sort.