Hamilton Schoolhouse is an antebellum single-pen log structure situated on the east bank of South Buffalo Creek. The building is very well preserved and its historic setting is virtually undisturbed. Inside are whitewashed log walls, flush boards on the ceiling, and unfinished pine floorboards. The schoolhouse represents the self-sustaining independence of the tiny South Buffalo Creek community, as well as the hardships of rural life and the difficulties encountered in securing an education during the 19th and early 20th centuries in a remote, mountainous region. It is a rare surviving precursor of the many log schoolhouses that were built throughout the South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hamilton Schoolhouse may be the last antebellum “old field” school built before the Civil War in Virginia.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia