Sykesville, MD - Sykesville Colored Schoolhouse

518 Schoolhouse Road
Sykesville, MD 21784
Tel: 410.795.8959
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The Sykesville Colored Schoolhouse Museum is being restored to its 1916 appearance. Built between July and December 1903, at a cost of $530.50, the building has lived many lives. Between January 1904 and May 1938 it was a one-room schoolhouse, managed by local community trustees, for children of the surrounding black community from both sides of the Patapsco River during the days of segregation. Between July 1939 and late 1981 the building served as a residence with its main floor divided into four rooms. Since 1982, the building was repeatedly slated for demolition, but was saved each time by the efforts of local residents.

By the mid-1990's, with support from the Town of Sykesville, the project was in line to receive state restoration seed grants. However, their implementation was delayed while deeds and other issues were resolved. Millennium celebrations provided a major boost in the effort to save the Schoolhouse. The White Millennium Council, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, listed the Schoolhouse as a Save America's Treasures Project, and the Maryland Commission for Celebration 2000 selected it as a statewide Treasure of the Month. The same year the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage selected the Sykesville Schoolhouse as the county and statewide beneficiary project for the year.