Edwin Washington Project

ROCK HILL Colored School, Mercer District

Edited 8/19/2023

Photograph from 1940

Photo 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, Box 11.

Opening and Closing

1880- 1945/46

Physical and Map Location

33999 Austin Grove Rd, Bluemont, VA 20135

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/admin/item/31253 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

In 1938/39, the number designation for Rock Hill Colored was #34. Source EWP 1.7 1939 Socio Econ Study.

Combined Classes with Conklin: See Volume 5 of Conklin Village Study by Larry Roeder.

The Black community of Rock Hill was built on rock, poor land and sold cheaply by the Friends to free blacks so they could have their own home and avoid being sold back into slavery. See “The Society of Friends,” pg 22 in The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Loudoun County, Virginia, 1957-1976.

Rock Hill School, which was in the Mercer District, shared schooling with Conklin in 1942/43 and 1943/44 academic years, was a one-story, detached, frame building with composition roof, on concrete foundation, containing one room. By 1940, this building was lit by electricity and heated by a stove, the metal flue passed through a wall, thereby making the flue non-standard. The building was approximately 32 ½’ x 42’ and in good condition in 1940, with an estimated insurable value of $500. The picture above was taken around 1940 as part of an inspection and survey report done by the Garrett Insurance Agency, Inc. and the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. I contacted Fireman’s in 2013 to see if they had any archival information; but none was available (Westermann, 2013). For the split years, it is unclear which months schooling was at Conklin and which at Rock Hill, nor if students were expected to attend both schools.

There is a possible hint in the Term Report for 1942/43 as to which of the students in the combined body were Rock Hill, vs Conklin; we just don't know if only one structure was used or both. According to the Enrollment Card for Conklin for 1942/43, the school had 11 students. The Term Report for 1942/43 by Nannie Cole listed 23 students; but all except 11 had a RH pencil mark next to their name. The 11 were marked with a strike “-“. See further discussion in the section of Volume 5 of the Conklin Village Project on the 1942/43 Academic Year.

Enrollment Card by Year for the Rock Hill Colored School.

In addition to analysis of each academic year, it is worth noting that clerks in the Loudoun County School system also maintained a set of handwritten “Enrollment Cards” for each school. For Rock Hill , the grades taught were 1-7 and the race of students was “colored.” See Volume 5 of the Conklin Village Study by Larry Roeder for more details.

• Earliest records of instructors starts in 1917, though; however, the structure was constructed in 1880 as a one-room frame school house at a cost of $550. Source: Report of Survey Committee on Long Range Planning for Loudoun County, Jan, 1940. Location: LCPS: Archives folder 2.2 County School Board, 1918-1952.
• Closed and hauled to Middleburg in 1946. Source: Rock Hill Attendance and Staff Report, LCPS archives.
• Attendance and Staffing statistics: 1917-1946 Rock Hill Attendance and Staff Report.

[1] It is useful to note that as of 1937, the terms of “colored” schools was shorter than that of white schools. See Dorsey, Ford, “History of education in Loudoun County” (1937). Honors Theses, University of Richmond. Paper 329.

1921/22  It was not easy for students to acquie trextbooks at contact prices.

Instructors

More information on instructors is in the making.

• 1917/19:  Ruth Bannister of Rectortown, Va.  10 years experience.  Born 11 Feb 1887.  Attended Petersburg Normal.
• 1920/24:  Clarence L. Murray. Graduated from Howard University.  
• 1930/31: In July, the School Board appointed Lucille B. Clay the colored instructor. Source: Loudoun Times Mirror Staff. (1930, July 10). School Board Holds Its Regular Session. Loudoun Times Mirror.1942/43: Nannie C. Coles, was the instructor in the combined Rock Hill/Conklin project. Source: Term Report for 1942/43.
• 1935/36.   Mary D. Johnson.

Insurance and Physical Description

• 1880. Constructed as a one room frame school for $350.
• Insured by LCPS system in 1923/26 as a “colored” school in the Mercer District. Source: EWP Archives, 11. Black Insurance Book (1924-1936). Insurance Record. Box 11. Black Book with Red Spine and Corners) Page 24/25.
• Toilets were earth vaults in good condition in 1920/21 and in 1922/23 not considered sanitary., though in 1923/24 were considered in good condition.
• 1920/21.  Building was in a poor state of repair.
• Lot was not enclosed.
• No flag on school  house.