TOUR OF RESTORED ONE-ROOM BLACK AMERICAN SCHOOLHOUSE AT BACKCOUNTRY SETTLEMENT IN GRAY COURT ON MARCH 15

The restored one-room Piney Grove Schoolhouse for Black Americans at the Culbertson Backcountry Settlement, 7000 Georgia Road, Gray Court, SC, will be open for tours Saturday, March 15, at 1:00 pm. The Piney Grove Schoolhouse was established around 1870 after the SC State Constitution mandated public education for all in South Carolina. This tour is free and open to the public. The Laurens County Museum and the Gray Court-Owings Historical Society are sponsoring this event at a site and structure important to the history of education in Laurens County and the Upstate of South Carolina.

This tour is part of “The Road to Education for Black Education” exhibit emphasis at the museum. Piney Grove School was one of 75 schools located around Laurens County in 1935. Fifty (50) schools were for white students. Twenty-five (25) schools were for black students. Few of these one-room schoolhouses have survived the centuries. The Gray Court-Owings Historical Society moved the school to its present location so it will be preserved along with the other historic structures at the Culbertson Backcountry Settlement.

Established by the Gray Court-Owings Historical Society, Culbertson Backcountry Settlement is situated in Gray Court, SC, along the old Georgia Road, which used to serve as the Wagon and Stage Coach Road to the state of Georgia. In addition to the Piney Grove Schoolhouse, you will discover two log cabins dating back to 1790, a blockhouse constructed in 1770, and other structures important to life in the South Carolina Backcountry since Colonial times. Additionally, there’s an 1885 church standing within the settlement’s grounds.

Culbertson Backcountry Settlement is a stop on the Laurens Country Revolutionary War 250th Driving and Biking Trail. Representatives from the Gray Court-Owings Historical Society will be available on March 15 to interpret the site for attendees.

The Laurens County Museum is a non-profit membership association. The museum exhibit hall is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. For more information about membership, volunteer opportunities, tours, and exhibits, call (864) 681-3678, or visit LaurensCountyMuseum.org or Facebook.