The Harrington School
The last African-American school on St. Simons Island, the Harrington School represents the most viable and valuable venue to interpret the Gullah/Geechee heritage of St. Simons Island. The building formerly served as the Harrington Grade School from the 1920s until its desegregation in the 1960s, when it was converted to a daycare facility and served as such until the 1970s.
In 2004, Glynn County and the St. Simons Land Trust, Inc. acquired ownership of a tract of real estate, containing approximately 12 acres of land, known as the Harrington Tract and located on South Harrington Road on St. Simons Island, Georgia. The Harrington Tract includes a parcel of land containing approximately 1.7 acres, on which is located the last remaining African American school house on St. Simons Island.
The Harrington Tract was acquired by the Land Trust and the County pursuant to the Georgia Greenspace laws and the Glynn County Greenspace program. Following that acquisition, the County and the Land Trust executed and recorded various documents which restricted the Harrington Tract for the use of the public. Since 2004, the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition, in partnership with The St. Simons Land Trust, has been active in the fundraising, restoration planning, management and operations of the School. The actual restoration of the School began in 2010 with an overall restoration cost of $325,000. The School officially re-opened with a ribbon cutting in August of 2017.
[Sources: The Georgia Trust; The Society for Georgia Archeology - Rawson Gordon]
Located at South Herrington at Bennies Red Barn, St. Simons Island, GA 31522
To learn about upcoming events, or to book a heritage tour, contact the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition at 912-634-0330 or www.ssiheritagecoalition.org