Powell’s Grove Colored

Edited: 4/25/2018, Re-edited 8/15/2023

PowellsGrove3
Powelll's Grove, 1940

By Thos E. Sims, Jr. Source: Insurance Analysis and Permanent Record – Property of Loudoun County School Board: Garrett Insurance Company (Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company), Leesburg, Virginia. October, 1940. (Blue Insurance Binder 11, EWP Archives. Notice attached outhouse.  See vrtical files in Edwin Washington Archives, Douglass HS building, Leesburg

Opening and Closing

Opened in 1880

1947/48  Students moved to Carver.

Physical and Map Location

During segregation was in th Mt. Gilead school District

19100 Airmont Road, Purcellville, VA

Petitions

Transportation 

Walking was a common method of school transportation even before the creation of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS).  It’s believed that students who lived within 3 miles of a school could walk from their home to school.  The figure at https://edwinwashingtonproject.org/s/ewp/item/31239 shows the location of the school with a circle representing the area from which students could have walked, back and forth from their home to the school.  Travel by horse was also used and could have extended the travel distance.

History

  • 1880: Constructed as a one room frame structure at the cost of $300. May have been known as Airmont, due to the road location; but not to be confused with Airmont White. Source: Report of Survey Committee on Long Range Planning for Loudoun County, Jan, 1940. Location: EWP Archives 2.2 County School Board, 1918-1952.
  • 1930. $46.50 was authorized by the School Board on 10 June 1930 for repairs. Source: Loudoun Times Mirror Staff. (1930, June 12). School Board Holds Its Regular Session. Loudoun Times Mirror, p. 1.
  •  1943.  Globe was given the school by school system. EWP Archives: 1.5  May 26, 1943.  Memo by Ruby Vaughan, Supervisor to co-workers.
  • In 1938/39, the number designation for Powell’s Grove Colored was #30. Source 1.7 1939 Socio Econ Study

Instructors

  • 1917/18:  Mrs. Mary Owens of Purcellville.  30 years experience.
  • 1918-1923 Unknown.
  • 1924/25. Mrs. Sarah Henderson
  • 1925/26. Rosa Carter. The tiny woman (weighed only 94 pounds) became one of the county’s most famous educators. Born Jan 29, 1904, Ms. Carter made her home in Parkersburg, West Virginia and was educated at Sumner High School, Howard University, West Virginia College and Storer. Powell’s Grove was her first assignment in Loudoun. She then transferred to fame, if not fortune, in Middleburg. Source: Term Reports and Teacher Reports.
  • 1926/27: Nannie W. B. Cunningham. Ms. Cunningham only instructed for the one year in Loudoun, though she arrived with six years of prior experience. She was born Aug 24, 1894 and educated at Slater Normal in North Carolina and at Petersburg. Source: Term Reports and Teacher Reports.
  • 1927/28 – 1928/29: Mrs. E. Randolph. Term Reports, LCPC Archives
  • 1930/31 – 1939/40. Clarence L. Murray was elected an instructor by the School Board on June 10, 1930. He was born in 1886 and had 4 years of college, according to the 1940 U.S. Census. Back in 1920, he was a messenger in Washington, DC. Sources: 1940 and 1920 U.S. Census records for Leesburg, VA and Washington, DC.,  Term Reports, EWP Archives. Loudoun Times Mirror Staff. (1930, June 12). School Board Holds Its Regular Session. Loudoun Times Mirror, p. 1.
  • 1940/41 – 1943/44: Victoria Goens. Mrs. Goens was born Oct 23, 1913.  Her home was Bolivar, West Virginia and she was educated at DuBois High School in Mt. Hope, West Virginia, graduating in 1937.  She also finished a two year program at Storer in 1940. Sources: Teacher Records and Term Reports, EWP Archives. Loudoun Times Mirror, Times Staff, School Board (from page 1), pg. 2 showed colored teachers. April 16, 1942.  Further research has indicated that Virginia Gretchen (Davis) Goens died 12 October, 1999, Ranson, West Virginia and was buried in Cedar Hill cemetery in Bolivar. At the time, she was a retired school teacher in Jefferson County, West Virginia
  • 1944/46 – Nannie C. Coles
  • 1946/47 - Unknown.
  • 1947/48  Closed. Students moved to Carver. Source: EWP: 6.6 Student Enrollment Cards\Enrollment Cards All\School Colored Records

Insurance and Physical Description

  • 1880 built of frame construction, one room for $300.
  • 1924/27. Insured as a “colored” school in the Mt. Gilead District. Source: Insurance Record. Purcellville: Page 32/33.
  • Possibly 1929. Insured for $200.  Insurance Record. Purcellville: Pg 54/55.

Additional Photos

Powells Grove United Methodist Church (defunct). Photo by Larry Roeder, 4/25/2018. Parking lot in left photo.

Powell’s Grove was eventually torn down and replaced by the parking lot of a traditional Black church, as of 4/25/2018, also defunct.

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