Deep in the dark and mysterious hollows of what is now the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, what is now grown over by briars and recently emerged forest, one can find the remains of communities, foundations of schools, and homes once occupied by families descended from some of the earliest settlers of the area.

The first parcel I found in the late 1990’s is only known as “Tract 41a”, where artifacts from the 1920’s and 30’s can still be found to this day. I returned in December of 2018.

While visiting my family, I took a walk on Woodward Rd, where I met Mr. Thomas Lewis who gave me a short history of this charming old building that I had always assumed was an old garage or outbuilding. This is when I learned of its true story, an old school house for the African American families in the area prior to the 1930’S.