>>>>—->

In 1874, nine years after the Civil War ended, a group of former slaves of the Riggs, Donaldson, Parrish, and Hall families founded the Willow Hill School to serve the area's black children. Georgia Ann Riggs, age 15 and a former slave, was the first teacher. Class was held in an old turpentine shanty. Willow Hill School, was one of 15 family-operated black schools in Bulloch County, became the center of a community of successful land-owning black Americans. In the first half of the 20th century, the Rosenwald Fund helped pay for construction and the Jeanes Fund helped train faculty.

In 1920 the Bulloch County Board of Education purchased the school for $18 dollars. In 1954 the county built the sixth and current building to house the school (.5 miles SW). Children attended an integrated facility beginning in 1970.When closed in 1999, Willow Hill had been a school for 125 years - the County's oldest. In 2005, descendants of the founders bought the school building for $113,000 and the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center seeks to preserve the legacy of those former slaves who built a community and nourished the school.

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  Portal, GA  |  Bulloch County  |  30450  |  Georgia  |  United States of America

Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes
Old Portal
Banks Dairy Farm
Akins' Mill Pond / The Families of Akins' Mill Pond
Upper Lotts Creek Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery
Rigdon's Mill / The Rigdon Cemetery
Skirmish at Statesboro
First Baptist Church of Statesboro
Bulloch County Courthouse
Bulloch County

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.