Johns Island Schoolhouse Museum

Historic Charleston & Resort Islands

The Walnut Schoolhouse was originally built in 1868 for the freed slaves after the Civil War. Along with 10 other one-room schoolhouses, it was the beginning of public education for Johns Island. It was previously located on what is now Betsey Kerrison Parkway near the Walnut Hill Plantation. In 1991, the building was going to be demolished as part of a road widening project. Mrs. Betty Stringfellow, a local historian, rescued the building, restored it and opened it as the Johns Island Museum.

The Museum includes exhibits on Indian shell rings, pre-Colonial artifacts, plantation life, Civil War history, African-American life and Gullah culture, schoolhouses in the Lowcountry, Johns Island historic maps and other memorabilia. Knowledgeable local guides are available to answer questions and relate local stories of life on the Sea Islands of the Carolina Lowcountry.

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