Rectortown Colored
Rectortown School as it was being moved. Notice similarity to some photos of former St. Louis Colored.
Edited 8/19/2023
Opening and Closing
Opening to be be determined. The Rectortown No. 12 School was closed in 1963 for the opening of Northwestern Elementary School in Rectortown, later renamed Claude Thompson.
Physical and Map Location
Fauquier County
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/31245 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
During our research, there have been hints that some teachers in Loudoun might have also instructed in Rectortown, a historic district of Facquier County, and that some Loudoun students might also have studied in the Rectortown School. In addition, families like the Gaskins lived in both counties.
Rectortown was a Rosenwald school, one of eight schools for black children in Fauquier County.
Instructors
We know Ruth Naomi Bannister of Rectortown instructed in Loudoun in the 1920’s but did Loudoun kids also study there? Hints have yet to be verified; however, in case they prove accurate and in keeping with the notion of developing a database on all former segregated schools, we have added a page on the Rectortown Colored School.
Bannister was born 11 Feb 1887 and died 28 August 1945. She was the widow to Reverand Sylvester Walker and was educated at Petersburg Normal. Her original permit was teach was issued in 1906 and then was renewed in 1919. She instructed at Rock Hill (1918-19) and at Middleburg (Grant) (1919-1924). While residing in Rectortown, she lived in the Flut Wood District.
Insurance and Physical Description
Toilet facilities were on the outside, shared by boys and girls. Water at such school was provided by local springs and in some instances hnd pumps were on the outside. Heating was by coal or wood stoves. Parents and concerned commuity members maintained the lawn and play areas.
See photo of Rectortown school in Vertical Files, Edwin Washington Archives, Douglass HS building, Leesburg.
Lt. Col. Adrian Upshur shared stories of his great-aunt Lavinia Washington, a legendary teacher at Rectortown No. 12. Just as the school had no heat or running water, his aunt’s home lacked these luxuries, too. Upshur described how he and his siblings would – before getting ready for school each morning – walk down to the spring to bring two buckets of water to Miss Lavinia’s house and place the buckets next to the stove. Then they would light the stoves, feed the chickens and collect the eggs for breakfast.