Port Tobacco Schoolhouse

Port Tobacco was once a bustling port a few miles north of its intersection with the Potomac River, but runoff from surrounding plantations and farms rendered the port unusable in the mid-1800’s.  In spite of the town’s bad fortune, it was the country seat and largest town in Charles County at the time, and legislation drove the creation of the One-room School System in 1869.  This particular school is believed to have opened in 1876, based on an article in the Maryland Independent newspaper on October 12th of that year, which reported “Our Village School opened with Miss Lizzie Fowler of Prince Georges County as teacher.”

White students were educated at the school between 1876-1924, and African American students were educated there between 1924-1953.  The student body was comprised primarily of 1st through 7th graders.  In 1953, students were moved to a new Port Tobacco Elementary School that was larger in size and further west on Route 6 in the direction of Welcome, Maryland.

The building served as a meeting place for a Local 4H Group for awhile and then as a library where books could be checked out by local residents.  The school building and surrounding land were sold by the Charles County Board of Education to Frank Button Wade in 1959, then leased by the Wade family to the Society for Restoration of Port Tobacco in 1989 on a 40-year renewable lease.  A restoration project was undertaken, between the Society and the Charles County Retired Teachers Association, in which historical architect Richard Rivoire was recruited to carefully and accurately restore the schoolhouse to depict its original 19th century look and feel. The Port Tobacco One Room Schoolhouse re-opened in 1994 and is a frequent destination for Charles County school field trips.  It is one of six buildings designated as Historically Significant in Port Tobacco.