Restored historic school in N.C. waits for its debut

JARVISBURG, N.C.

The restored Jarvisburg Colored School could open by early next year, but questions remain on whether to use volunteers and start slow or hire a staff with Currituck County funding and make it part of bigger plans.

Efforts to restore the small, two-story school began 10 years ago and moved slowly until 2004, when Currituck County agreed to fund the project. The school was built just after the Civil War and was moved to its present site in the 1890s.

Restoration of the building was finished in June, but the 1-acre site still needs parking and a small visitor center before its opening set for early next year.

So far the county has committed or spent $522,000. Formed six years ago, the Historic Jarvisburg Colored School Association has raised about $60,000 toward furnishing and designing the interior for tours, said Alice Hunt Lindsey, who attended the school and is president of the association.

Plans include hiring a part-time administrator and recruiting volunteers drawn largely from locals and people who attended the school before it closed in 1950.

For about 80 years, black children in the Jarvisburg community got their educations there from a handful of teachers and administrators who used homemade desks and bookshelves or equipment discarded by white schools. Much of the old furniture has been stored and will be used in the museum.

A 100-year-old homemade bookcase with some of the birch bark still visible effectively served as the school's library. Lindsey fondly remembers reading every book held in the case over the years. The bookcase will be part of the exhibit.

Awaiting registration on the National Register of Historic Places, the school is a significant and rare piece of history, said Barbara Snowden, a historian for Currituck County. As one of the oldest of its kind in North Carolina, the school could be a popular attraction, Snowden said.

Currituck County officials would consider hiring a staff to direct tours and administer the site, said Currituck County Manager Dan Scanlon. If commissioners agree, the school could become part of a set of historic sites, including the historic jail, that could be administered by the Whalehead Club Preservation Trust or by the county tourism department, he said. Funding would come from about $9 million a year collected in occupancy taxes.

Running a tour site is demanding and must be consistent, said Paul O'Neal, a member of the board for the Historic Jarvisburg Colored School Association and a former Currituck County commissioner. Volunteers may not be able to keep the site open often enough, he said.

"I think it's something we really need to look at," O'Neal said. "My recommendation would be for a third party to operate it."

The county has experience restoring and operating the Whalehead Club in Corolla, O'Neal said.

A cadre of volunteers overseen by a paid part-time administrator should be sufficient at first, Lindsey said. But she did not rule out expanded plans.

"We knew we'd have to have someone on hand," she said. "It would not be able to run just with volunteers."

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com