Henry Timrod Schoolhouse

Henry Timrod Schoolhouse. . , Henry Timrod (1828-1867), Civil War era poet and SC native, taught school in this building in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Civil War. He had been visiting his sister Emily in Mars Bluff, later Florence County, in early 1858, when a man named Col. William Henry Cannon invited him to move to Mars Buff and instruct his three sons at his plantation, known as "Orange Grove.”, Timrod accepted the offer and soon moved to Mars Bluff, where he lived on the Cannon property while tutoring their children, as well on the children of a few other local residents. During his employment, Timrod likely lived at "Forest Cottage,” the home of his sister Emily and brother-in-law on the Cannon plantation property. George Munro Goodwin, Emily's husband, was employed by Col. Cannon as an overseer and manager of the Cannon's country store., Though Timrod spent no longer than 18 months at Mars Bluff, two significant events occurred in Timrod's life during this time: he met his future wife Kate, George Goodwin's sister and was diagnosed with tuberculosis; events that each influenced his later poetry., After the Cannon family, the one room schoolhouse became the property of local farmer Tom Williamson. It remained in Williamson's possession until 1930, when he transferred ownership of the schoolhouse to the Pee Dee District of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), under the provision that, if ever relocated, the house would stay in Florence., A decision was soon made to move the schoolhouse from its rural site to a site within the city limits. The site shodden was the southeast corner of the lot occupied by the Junior High School (now Poynor Community Education Center), where it could be accessed as an historical, education tool for the students and be viewed by the general public., Concerns over the schoolhouse’s safety prompted another relocation in 1938, when the house was moved again – this time to its present location. The City Park, which opened in 1926, was renamed Henry Timrod Park in 1941 in honor of the poet.