Otterville celebrates history at Hamilton Primary School Festival
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By Steven Spencer and Austin Andre
Steven Spencer/Jersey County Journal
The Otter Creek Historical Society held their annual festival to raise funds to preserve and restore the historic Hamilton Primary School.
The Otter Creek Historical Society hosted the annual Hamilton Primary School Festival this past weekend raising funds to restore and persevere the historic structure.
This year’s event included tours of the historic school and information on its history as well as vendors, live music, raffles, a watermelon eating contest and a ghost hunt Saturday evening.
Jeanne Marshall with the Historical Society said the school dates back to 1834 and has been recognized as the first free and integrated school in the country.
Marshall said that when Dr. Silas Hamilton arrived to Otterville in the 1830s he wanted to build a school that his freed slave, George Washington, could attend and receive a quality education.
After Hamilton’s death, Washington continued to honor him, installing a monument next to the school in the doctor’s memory. Washington also went on to form a perpetual scholarship fund for Americans of African descent which is still helping students further their education today.
After over a 100 years of service to its students and community the school was formally closed in 1971.
The Hamilton Primary School has been a fixture of the village for over 150 years and is on the National Register of historic places. This festival also holds historical importance, according to Otter Creek Historical Society Treasurer and Festival Chairperson Mary Drainer.
“This festival helps restore and maintain he school,” Drainer said. “The school was in bad shape when we started the festival, but slowly and surely we’ve helped in its recovery.”
The festival also honored two members of the historical society who passed away last year, Mavis Hunt and Mary Ann Wadlow, on Saturday.
Hunt and Waldow were part of a group who led the way to keep Otterville in charge of the school, according to Drainer. In 1982, the group obtained control of the school after working out an agreement with he board of caretakers.
Steven Spencer/Jersey County Journal
Former historical society members Mavis Hunt and Mary Ann Wadlow were also honored on Saturday for their work on preserving the history of the building and its founders.
Steven Spencer/Jersey County Journal
The Hamilton Primary School served as one of the first integrated schools in the United States when it opened in the 1830s. It was rebuilt in the 1870s, as the school stood as a place of unity during a period of segregation and separation in America.
