Sheldon in Beaufort County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Sheldon Union Academy
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Sheldon School
Photographed by Mike Stroud, February 2008
1. Sheldon Union Academy Marker Front
Sheldon Union Academy. Sheldon Union Academy, later Sheldon School, opened in 1893 on this site and educated the black children of rural Sheldon community for almost fifty years. The original Sheldon Union Academy board, which founded and governed the school from 1893 to 1918, included S.T. Beaubien, M.W. Brown, P.R. Chisolm, H.L. Jones, S.W. Ladson, F.S. Mitchell, and N.D. Mitchell.
Sheldon School. Sheldon Union Academy, founded by an independent group of community leaders, was a private school until 1918. That year its board deeded the property to Beaufort County, which built a new public school on this site. Sheldon School, which taught grades 1-7, closed in 1942 when the county consolidated its rural black schools.
Erected 2001 by South Carolina Department of Archives and History; sponsored by Committee For Preservation Of African-American Landmarks. (Marker Number 7-27.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education • Notable Places. A significant historical year for this entry is 1893.
Location. 32° 36.246′ N, 80° 48.184′ W. Marker is in Sheldon, South
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Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, in the Ashepoo and Combahee and Edisto Basin. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, 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 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Prince William's Parish Church (approx. 1.6 miles away); Church of Prince William's Parish (approx. 1.6 miles away); William Bull (approx. 1.7 miles away); Frampton Line (approx. 4½ miles away); The Beginning (approx. 4½ miles away); African American Troops at Honey Hill
Photographed by Mike Stroud, February 2008
2. Sheldon Union Academy Marker Reverse
Other markers no longer nearby. Ruins of Old Sheldon (was approx. 1.6 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); "The Frampton Line" (was approx. 4.4 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Southern Live Oak Tree (was approx. 4.4 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Photographed by Mike Stroud, February 2008
3. The Old School site is now part of US 21
Credits. This page was last revised on May 31, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 27, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 3,363 times since then and 90 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 27, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.
