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Title
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RCH Finding the BlueMont Colored School2
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Tag
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Deed
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Map
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school, history, African-American, Bluemont, preservation, nonprofit, Black, marker, Quaker
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Place
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Virginia, US
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Identifier
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1028429
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Is Version Of
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1028429_EWP_Finding_the_BlueMont_Colored_School2.pdf
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Is Part Of
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Deeds Schools and Construction
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Date Created
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2023-08-02
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Format
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.pdf
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Number
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446f78ba917f15b17deca50beee51807ec0a260cfa1cdd0e96c01443b8dec0b7
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Source
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/source/Ingest One/9 Deeds Schools and Construction/9-3 Construction Sales and Strategy/9-3-2 Colored Construction Files/9-3-2 Bluemont Colored/EWP_Finding_the_BlueMont_Colored_School2.pdf
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Publisher
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Digitized by: Edwin Washington Project
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Rights
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Loudoun County Public Schools
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Language
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English
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Replaces
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/source/Ingest One/9 Deeds Schools and Construction/9-3 Construction Sales and Strategy/9-3-2 Colored Construction Files/9-3-2 Bluemont Colored/EWP_Finding_the_BlueMont_Colored_School2.pdf
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extracted text
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Finding the BlueMont Colored School
By
Larry Roeder
Principal Investigator
The Edwin Washington Project
9/26/2017
Summary
Larry Roeder, Anthony Archiero and Henry Plaster visited the site of the former
Bluemont Colored School on September 23, 2017, with permission of the Loudoun
County Public Schools. They located the site, now deep in the forest near Bluemont,
and made photographs and measurements, which are described below.
In the interest of preserving an important part of African-American school history, our
recommendation is that LCPS never sell the property, but if disposed, that it be turned
over to a registered non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Black history. We also
suggest a street marker be erected on the Snickersville Turnpike informing the public of
the school and its location. At present, nearly everyone we interviewed in Bluemont
thought that the Snickersville Academy was the “colored school,” which is not accurate.
A sign would preserve the memory of the place.
Contents
Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
Background ................................................................................................................................................. 2
History of the School:.................................................................................................................................. 3
Location of Bluemont Colored School ......................................................................................................... 4
Condition of the site: .................................................................................................................................. 6
Artifacts: ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Photos of the Site: ...................................................................................................................................... 8
1
Background
Title: For the sum of $5, on April 22th, 1878, the Mount Gilead School District which
included Bluemont, then called Snickersville, purchased from Benjamin F. Young about
a quarter of an acre of land near the village on which was already standing a “free
school for colored people,” which was also a place of worship for the same. The small
lot was part of a larger tract Young had previously acquired from Dr. George E. Plaster.
Note: Benjamin Franklin Young, a black man, was an "apprentice doctor" to Dr. George
E. Plaster shortly after the end of the Civil War, grandfather to Henry Plaster, our
guide1.
The deed placed the school under the control of three white, Quaker trustees, members
of the Goose Creek Meeting House. We did not find any mention of this particular
school in the minutes of the Meeting House, though there was a School Committee and
the Quakers did help find a graveyard for African-Americans.
The trustees were:
Hugh (last name hard to read). We suspect this is Hugh Rogers Holmes, a farmer
and Hicksite Quaker2 who was born Dec 4, 1830 and died in the Mt. Gilead district
December 4, 19143. Holmes was also a teacher, as was reported in the Friends
Monthly Meeting Report of January, 1856.
James W. Nichols, who appears to have been born about 1836 and was
married to Hannah Howell. He died in 1909.
1
First known black physician in Loudoun, apprenticed by Dr. George E. Plaster, ca 1870, former
lieutenant in the Confederate Army and Snickersville physician. See T i m e l i n e o f I m p o r t a n t
E v e n t s i n A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n H i s t o r y i n L o u d o u n C o u n t y , V i r g i n i a by Eugene Scheel,
A Waterford historian and mapmaker.and the Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg , Virginia.
http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/african-american-chronology.htm. See also From the History of
Snickersville by Jean Harris: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2008/11/4/652031/2
See Goose Creek Monthly Meeting, First Month, 1896, Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania;
Minutes, 1896-1920; Collection: Baltimore Yearly Meeting Minutes; Call Number: RG2/B/G661 1.6
3
2
See Virginia Death Certificate for Hugh Rogers Holmes in Ancestry.com.
Samuel W. Brown, born about 1837 and was a Quaker in the Goose Creek
Meeting House, same as Hugh Rogers Holmes.
Control was given these three men and their successors forever of a free school
property for colored people. Because the houses on the lot were built by donations and
subscriptions, it was understood the location could remain a place of worship so long as
this didn’t interfere with the keeping of public education. The deed was registered May
2, 18784.
We need to more fully research on the term houses. How many? Perhaps just an additional
outhouse.
History of the School:
From the deed, it would appear that free education for African-Americans may have
predated 1878. Public schools didn’t begin until 1870/71, so this site is historically
important to both Loudoun County and the local African-American community.
Loudoun County School records in the Edwin Washington Archives indicate that
Bluemont was a one room frame school, heated with wood, that it closed in the 1932/33
academic year5 and the kids likely then were hauled to Rock Hill6.
4
Deed is in possession of the LCPS Planning Office and a copy is the archives of the Edwin Washington
Project.
5
See Edwin Washington File” 6.6 General Lists – Student Enrollment Cards for Bluemont Colored. See
also 9.2 1923 map of Loudoun County by Oscar Emerick, Superintendent of Schools. See also term
reports for 1920/21 to 1931/32. We know that the school was open from 1917 at least (when the
enrollment cards began) to 1932/33.
6
See Edwin Washington Colored Petition Files for petition of October 3, 1934 asking for relief for the
transport of Bluemont children.
3
Location of Bluemont Colored School
Figure 1 Map Courtesy of LCPS, Planning Office, 2017
The school property is about .25 acres and is known as Parcel 649-48-9304, just south
of Snickersville Turnpike and SE of Bluemont Village Lane.
We assembled in a parking lot adjacent to Bluemont Village Lane (dark brown line in the
pink shape) and then drove onto the Boulder Crest Retreat property (Parcel 649497371)
until reaching a locked gate. Boulder Crest gave us the combination and we then
proceeded to the end of the lane, which is a circle in Parcel 649486721. Also at the
circle was a residence, which became our staging area. The school property was on a
rise of land, well hidden in trees to the south of our staging area and impossible to see;
but by using a compass, we determined the proper location, which was reached by
walking along a foot path to the left of the structure. Just past a bend in the path, on the
south side is the footprint of the school house, a small rectangle of foundation stones,
still very well laid out.
4
Figure 2 House at the circle. Footpath is the left.
The modern house was also easily seen from that location at 10 degrees, NE to the
furthes corner (left in this picture). Taking the reverse azimuth from the modern
structure, in other words, would show the exact location in the school property of the
center of the school house.
We were unable to use our GPS mechanism, due to lack of internet connectivity; but do
plan on returning in the spring before growths begin to verify our measurements.
Although we unable to measure the contours of the land, due the lack of GPS tools, we
had already been able to identify the four corners of the .25 acres, thanks to the
Mapping Service of Loudoun County Public Schools.
5
Next we measured the walls, each of which is made of stacked stones. We set
measuring sticks along the perimeter and then measured the distance between each. It
was difficult to maintain balance during the exercise and the front part along the
footpath (the A-B line) was particularly hard, so some margin for error should be
allowed.
We used the same A, B,.C, D corner designations for the building and the lot.
Distance between A and B was approximately 32’4”, whereas the distance between C
and D was approximately 31’.4”, so only an inch off.
The distance from A to C was 26’4”, whereas the distance from D to B was 26”4”.
Condition of the site:
The footing along the contours is slippery. Across the base of the footprint are also
thorny vines which should be removed before careful inspection.
The footprint itself is very clear to the eye. The land slopes, so the builders probably
laid timbers across the stones at a graduate elevation in order to achieve a level flooring
before building the house.
6
Artifacts:
We removed several artifacts for further examination back at the archives and to show
the Planning Office. Further surveying of the plot and the land around it to locate the
old outhouse and other items will require a more formal, archeological process, using
grids.
Item
Partial Brick
Size:
2”x4.5”x3.75”
Partial Window
Pane
Size:
3.75”x3.25”x1/8”
7
Location
Located at
the corner of
point A on the
school
footprint,
lying loose
next to the
wall. This
was the only
brick we
found. One
side has
heavy moss
on it.
Located
about 30”
from the C
corner on the
C-D line
Photo
Broken Quartz
Stone with flat
surface
Size: 7.45”x3”x4”
Broken bowl
bottom
Size: 5.5”x6/8”x.5”
Possible flashing
from a roof.
Size: 7”x2.5 at the
widest. Paper thin.
Located
about 6: from
the B corner
on the B-D
line..This is
the only
example. We
wonder if it is
a fragment of
a former step.
Located
about 6” from
the C corner
on the C-D
line. This is
the only
example of
crockery that
we found.
We found
many
fragments
inside the
footprint and
along the C-D
line. This
item was
found near
the D corner
on that line.
Photos of the Site:
8
Figure 3 Henry Plaster and Tony Archiero on Corner A. The footpath heads away to the west.
The yellow sticks were used to mark sections of the walls. Each length was then measured.
Figure 4 Henry and Tony sh owing the A B Line with Tony at the B Corner and Henry at the A corner. Notice the heavy foliage
throughout.
9