Second and Third Oakton Schools (1874-1912)

Second and Third Oakton Schools (1874-1912). . , Second Schoolhouse , The Civil War devastated the Flint Hill community. The farms and land were laid to waste and poverty was rampant. This delayed the building of a new school., The free public school system was officially established in Virginia in 1870 as mandated by the 1869 Reconstruction Constitution for Virginia. In 1874, Gilson R. Whaley transferred the deed to one acre of land, upon which a schoolhouse had recently been constructed, to the Trustees of the School Board of Providence District for a Flint Hill public school. The schoolhouse was located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Hunter Mill Road and what is now known as Chain Bridge Road. This school did not serve the black community. Classes were held there until the building was relocated to Jermantown Road in 1897 when it became a private residence., Third Schoolhouse , In 1883 Flint Hill was renamed Oakton. So, when the third area schoolhouse was built in 1897 a few yards east of its predecessor, the building became known as the Oakton Schoolhouse., Throughout its period of significance (1897 to 1912), the structure standing before you served as a school, community center, and a religious meetinghouse. An addition, or annex, to the schoolhouse was constructed in the summer of 1904, increasing the school's capacity to 45 students by January 1905., While this building operated as a school for only 15 years, it subsequently underwent 90 years of additions and alterations. After 1912, the structure was used as a private residence, a multi-family residence, a retail hardware store, and a very popular camping and outdoor activity supply store, Appalachian Outfitters., In January 2007, this historic building without 20th century additions, was moved from Chain Bridge Road to this park through a private/public effort. The same private/public partnership funded its substantial rehabilitation and restoration, returning the schoolhouse to its 1897 appearance.