Near Portal in Bulloch County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes

A Georgia Equalization School

Photographed By David Seibert, January 18, 2015

1. Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes Marker

Inscription. Willow Hill School was established in 1874 during Reconstruction as one of the first schools for African Americans in Bulloch County. It was privately supported until being sold to the local Board of Education in 1920. In 1954 the county built a new “equalization” school as part of a statewide strategy to resist federally mandated integration. These schools addressed blatant geographic and racial disparities in education with new, modern (but still segregated) facilities and improved curricula. Willow Hill was one of five such African-American schools in Bulloch County and consolidated several older rural schools: Bennett Grove, Scarboro Grove, Rehovia, Gays Grove, Free Chapel, and Johnson Grove. The school closed in 1969 as part of the county’s desegregation plan, and the students and faculty sent elsewhere. It reopened as an integrated intermediate school in 1971 with new faculty.

Erected 2014 by The Georgia Historical Society, Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center, and the Georgia Natural Resources Foundation. (Marker Number GHS 16-2.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education.

Location. 32° 30.817′ N, 81° 53.867′ W.

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Marker is near Portal, Georgia, in Bulloch County. Marker is on Willow Hill Road (County Route 6110) half a mile south of U.S. 80, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4235 Willow Hill Road, Portal GA 30450, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Willow Hill School and Community (approx. 0.4 miles away); Dr. James A. Stewart House (approx. 2.6 miles away); Old Portal (approx. 2.8 miles away); Banks Dairy Farm (approx. 3.6 miles away); Upper Lotts Creek Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery (approx. 4.7 miles away); Akins’ Mill Pond / The Families of Akins’ Mill Pond (approx. 4.8 miles away); Rigdon’s Mill / The Rigdon Cemetery (approx. 7.1 miles away); Skirmish at Statesboro (approx. 7.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Portal.

Photographed By David Seibert, January 18, 2015

2. Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes Marker

Photographed By David Seibert, January 18, 2015

3. Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on August 30, 2017. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2017, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. This page has been viewed 338 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 30, 2017, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia.