About
Known only to the locals, this forgotten schoolhouse still stands in the oldest part of Pomeroy, Ohio. It is now boarded up and overgrown with brush. In its earlier days, it provided Black American children with a quality education, producing such notable figures as James Edwin Campbell, poet and first president of West Virginia State University, and James McHenry Jones, renowned educator and third president of West Virginia State University. It operated from the late 1880s to the early 1900s.
In 2007, to commemorate the bicentennial of Meigs County, a historical marker was added to the Kerr's Run Colored School site. The sign briefly documents the history and legacy of the school.
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Know Before You Go
This venue can be reached by Ohio State Route 33 East from Athens, Ohio. Approximately 20 miles from Athens is an interchange and Route 833 begins here. Drive straight through the interchange and follow Route 833 to the Ohio River. At the stoplight is an intersection with State Route 124. Turn left and travel 200 feet and make a hard left onto a dead-end lane. It is not marked with a street sign. The Kerr’s Run School is right beside the old church. The property is not posted and visitors come and go as they please. Do not attempt to enter the building as it is in an unsafe condition.
Visitors are welcome to photograph the school and church from the outside, but the property is heavily secured. There is a massive colony of bees near the back left corner of the building, and that wall is their new hive. Be careful walking around back there, accidentally provoking that many bees could end tragically.
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Published
April 19, 2019
