“ PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER CAME TO VISIT AND WE KEPT A GUEST BOOK FOR THEM TO SIGN . INSIDE THE SCHOOL WAS MORE THAN DESKS , CHALKBOARDS AND EDUCATIONAL HISTORY , IT ALSO INCLUDED RELICS AND ARTIFACTS THAT WERE UNEARTHED WHILE FARMING .”
Walnut Hill until 1935 , when a larger public school system came to Johns Island . Only a few Johns Island families have a multigenerational lineage long enough to reference when members were educated in the local one-room schoolhouses . Johns Island farmer Thomas Legare is part of one of those . “ My great-aunt is 95 years old and she remembers going to a similar schoolhouse until third grade ,” said Legare . “ It was closer to our farm , and I ’ m not sure we ever knew the Walnut Hill school house was there .”
The Walnut Hill building served as a magistrate courtroom from 1935 until the late 1950s , when Judge Dan Jenkins retired . A period of decline followed for three decades , and when the expansion of the Betsy Kerrison Parkway required a wider roadway , the school was scheduled to be demolished . Mrs . Stringfellow of Andell Bluff had the house moved onto her property around 1991 and away from the threat of road construction . The restoration work began then , but it would take many years to complete . Eventually the house was moved a second time around the year 2000 , back to an area close to the original site . It was opened as a history museum on Stringfellow ’ s 80th Birthday in November 2001 and remained open as a local museum until 2010 .
The current property where Walnut Hill sits was also the site of Rosebank Farms in the early 2000s , when Sidi Limehouse and Louise Bennett were two of the caretakers . “ We kept the building from disrepair and opened the museum daily , free of charge , during our hours of operation ,” said Bennett . “ People from all over came to visit and we kept a guest book for them to sign . Inside the school was more than desks , chalkboards , and educational history , it also included relics and artifacts that were unearthed while farming .” Today that property is owned by South Atlantic Development Enterprises , according to John Zlogar , a member of the Johns Island Task Force . “ We ’ re raising awareness about the benefits of conservation for the entire area ,” Zlogar says , “ but the path forward regarding the schoolhouse is complex .”
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