To paraphrase Lennon and McCartney, there are places we remember all our lives. Many have changed forever and not for the better. Many have gone forever and only a few remain, often abandoned to their fate along roads we no longer travel. This project has been about documenting those places and preserving their stories and memory before memories are all that are left.
Someone Used to Live Here
Every house was once a home - filled with laughter, the sound of feet running down a hall, the smell of meals cooking in the kitchen…Just because they’re abandoned now doesn’t mean that they don’t have stories to tell, or memories to share.
Houses of the Holy
In 1986 I wandered into a church, a man broken by his own failures, weaknesses, and addictions - and found a place of sanctuary and redemption. A place where I was accepted just as I am. Since then my journey of faith and relationship to the church has certainly had many challenges.
I love the beauty and simplicity of many country churches. And the steeples. For many of these small communities the church represents a place where they come to rejoice, and weep, with people they have a sense of community with. A sense of community that is disappearing as quickly as church attendance is. Several of these are historic buildings. And several are abandoned by congregations that have moved to find work, or simply can’t support them financially.
Country Stores
Long before there were drug stores and convenience stores on every street corner there was the country store. You’d come here to get bread, milk, beer, and cigarettes. Coke Cola and penny candy. Moon pies and salted peanuts. Aspirin and another copy of the newspaper. Men in overalls would stand outside leaning up against trucks and cars and talk about current events. It probably doubled as the Post Office and you went there to use a telephone attached to the wall, where a dime at least got you a private conversation off the party line. They were the hub of the community.
Rosenwald and Tuskegee Schools
With a pandemic many parents are having to ask, "How do we educate our kids without a government system?"
In my journey yesterday I came across several examples of how that used to be done. Which made me curious as to how many "schools" have I photographed while photographing abandoned places? So I've made a compilation. Now I could be wrong about some but I usually look for a building that looks like it could have served this purpose and is on church property, as often church and education went together.
Many are what were known as Rosenwald Schools. These were, according to Stephanie Deutsch, "a Rosenwald School was any of the more than five thousand schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States that were built primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early twentieth century. The project was the product of the partnership of Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish-American clothier who became part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck, and Company and the African American leader, educator, and philanthropist, Booker T. Washington, who was president of Tuskegee Institute."
Many of these schools have been repurposed as churches or community centers. Two are high schools that their communities no longer support. Several are fading away due to neglect. And that's a shame as, for good or ill, it's a part of our collective history.
If you know something about the building/photograph please contact me so I can update my information.
One of the first schools I ever documented.
Bluff Point Graded School No. 3 is a historic school building built in 1912–1913, and is a one-story, two room balloon frame building. It was used as a schoolhouse until 1932, and subsequently adapted by the Bluff Point Methodist Church for use as The Community House.
The Howland Graded School was built in 1867. For more info see the Blog post on "Howland Graded School."
See the Blog article on the Howland Graded School
"The Holley Graded School, established as a school for freedpeople in 1868 and settled on its current property in 1869, has a long and vital history on Virginia's Northern Neck. Established as a National Historic Site and Virginia Historic Landmark in 1996, the Holley School continues as community center and museum site."
Sadly this school, which sits in the middle of a row of middle class houses, is seeking donations to preserve it.
Like many former schools the local community is trying to save it and repurpose it as a community center.
Tommy Drake wrote me, "This building was an old black schoolhouse. I’m not sure when it was open or closed. It last saw use as a black church maybe 25 years ago or so. I farm the land directly across the road from this building."
This school is beside the Baptist church that probably founded it.
This school sits right beside the Baptist church that probably built it.
One of the largest Rosenwald Schools I've come across.
There's signage describing this as a "Savage School." I'm not sure what that means.
This Rosenwald school is in Gloucester and is being refurbished.
I have been informed that this was the Ivor Elementary School, where Mr. Lee Mitchell was the principal.
Like many former Rosenwald Schools this is now repurposed as a church.
This former school sits at the corner of a busy intersection. Compared to most schools I've seen this is rather large.
Six inches of dirt and some rain.
They plant the seed, they raise the livestock, they till the soil, prune the trees and branches, they harvest the crops, they often work 12 - 16 hours a day, and feed us and clothe us. They are one of the backbones of our economy. For many of them this is a family business going back generations. In the pandemic of 2020 they were more important than any media personality, politician or pundit. And they do all this with about half a foot of soil and water. They’re farmers.
