Wordless Wednesday: In Search of Possum Trot School

Last week The Old Schoolhouse magazine posted on their Twitter account that they were looking for some good one-room schoolhouse pictures. Unfortunately, a search of the One-Room Schoolhouse Center didn’t find any in my area. Especially not with these gas prices.

The next day I heard that Kathleen Duncan was doing a homeschooling high school seminar in Rome, GA, this week. (If you plan to homeschool through high school and Kathleen is speaking anywhere near you, go.) Also in Rome is Berry College, home to one of the five one-room schoolhouses in Georgia. The internal wheels started spinning at this point.

I made last-minute plans to attend the seminar and photograph the schoolhouse. After over two hours of driving, I arrived at Berry. The one piece of trivia that I know about Berry is that it happens to be the world’s largest college campus. Did you catch that? The world’s LARGEST college campus.

When I entered the front gates of the college, I had forty-five minutes until the beginning of my seminar. Unfortunately, the folks who made the directional signs at the school didn’t feel it necessary to point you towards a former church/schoolhouse dating back to 1850 which was nestled somewhere within the property.

After driving around I realized two things: I wasn’t going to find it on my own, and I would probably get lost if I kept trying. Returning to the front of the campus, I rolled down my window and stopped a lady who was able to give me directions. I had actually been going in the right direction, just not nearly far enough.

At the end of a dirt road I emerged into a clearing with Possum Trot School to my left, and gasped at the site. My fear was that I would find a modernized building. What I discovered was stunning in its simplicity: beautifully aged and weathered wood; moss-covered roofs and overhangings; a foundation of randomly piled stones. Perfection.

I shot seventeen pictures in five minutes and left Berry’s front gates five minutes before my seminar began, and was actually on time!

Built in 1850 as a church and used as a school from 1900-1954, Possum Trot’s history can be found here. Only time will tell if one of my pictures will find its way to the cover of The Old Schoolhouse. The peaceful time spent in the afternoon quiet with this beautiful structure is a special memory, no matter what, and I love the pictures.

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