SAVANNAH, Ga. – A one-room schoolhouse built in the 1920s to teach black children on St. Simons Island is making a comeback from years of rot and neglect.
Preservationists saved the Harrington School from scheduled demolition in 2010 and since then have spent about $300,000 to stabilize its deteriorating frame and leaky roof. Recently, the group Friends of the Harrington School announced a grant award that it hopes will bring in $50,000 needed to finish restoring the schoolhouse's interior.
Amy Roberts, director of the St. Simons African-American Heritage Coalition, attended 1st and 2nd grade at the school in the 1950s when many black descendants of slaves remained on the island.
Roberts says she "went a little crazy" when officials wanted to tear down the building. She says the restored schoolhouse is looking "gorgeous."
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
