ELLERBE — The Richmond County Historical Society will hold an Open House at the Bostick School from 2-5 p.m. Sunday.
The one-room schoolhouse on Clayton Carriker Road was built in 1880 and used as a school for first through seventh grades until 1922.
After 1922 the building was used for various functions including a peach packing house, a tobacco barn and a tool shed. The idea for renovating the building and returning it back to its original purpose came about when the Historical Society was looking for a project in the 1990s.
According to the Historical Society’s website, the building was renovated with siding boards from the old “Gaston Green” house and the old Hamlet Ice House. It took 6 years to restore with most of the work being done by Woodford and Lillian Sherrill and Carol McLean.
The Society’s website adds: “It has been a long and tedious process to restore the schoolhouse, particularly due to the fact that there was no electricity available for power tools to be used in the effort. It took the Sherrills about five weeks to install the tongue and groove ceiling. Since the boards were from several different places and had different grooves, they had to be forced together, which was quite time-consuming.”
The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2005.
Inside the school house it is set up much as it was for actual school use with pictures of teachers and the hickory stick used to keep students in line. The daily routine for the teacher was to open the school, ring the bell, have the students say the pledge of allegiance and recite Bible verses prior to getting started on the daily lessons.
The Historical Society would like to make the schoolhouse a destination in Richmond County for anyone interested in its history or picturesque setting. The site is used as a backdrop for graduation pictures, engagement pictures, and save-the-date photos as well.
A Facebook page listing the event under “Bostick School Open House” has a map with directions to the site and a “discussion” section where questions can be asked.
Contact the Historical Society at 910-895-1660 or 910-417-9960 for more information.
