Kingstree in Williamsburg County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Tomlinson School

Photographed by Dave W, May 20, 2023

1. Tomlinson School Marker, Side One

Inscription.
Formerly enslaved African Americans built the first Tomlinson School in 1866. Overseen by the Freedmen’s Bureau, it was the first Black public school in Williamsburg County. Tomlinson School was located at this site by 1924, when it moved into a new 2-story facility funded by the school district, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and local African Americans, whose contributions allowed for the construction of a brick rather than wood frame school building.

For decades, Tomlinson High and Graded School was the center of Black education in Williamsburg County. A white brick high school and library building opened in 1935. It was later demolished. A gymnatorium was added in 1941 and burned in 1994. Major additions were made c.1954 with funding from the S.C. equalization program, which upgraded Black schools to preserve segregation. Tomlinson closed in 1970 as part of the integration of Williamsburg Co. schools.

Erected 2021 by South Carolina Department of Archives and History; sponsored by Tomlinson Alumni, Inc. and WeGOJA Foundation. (Marker Number 45-26.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1924.

Location. 33° 40.151′ N, 79° 49.227′ W. Marker is in Kingstree, South Carolina, in Williamsburg County. It is on Tomlinson Street east of Lexington Avenue, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 702 Tomlinson St, Kingstree SC 29556, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds

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itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: "Let Us March on Ballot Boxes" (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); John Witherspoon (approx. ¼ mile away); Captain Roger Gordon (approx. ¼ mile away); Stephen A. Swails House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Benevolent Societies Hospital (approx. 0.4 miles away); Epps-McGill Farmhouse (approx. half a mile away); St. Alban’s Episcopal Church (approx. 0.6 miles away); Williamsburgh Historical Museum (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Kingstree.

Tomlinson School Marker, Side Two image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dave W, May 20, 2023

2. Tomlinson School Marker, Side Two

Tomlinson School Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dave W, May 20, 2023

3. Tomlinson School Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on May 25, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 21, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado. This page has been viewed 1,405 times since then and 174 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 21, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.