Boyds Negro School

This small building was the only school that served Black children in Boyds and the surrounding areas from the turn of the 20th-century through the mid-1930s.

The school served grades first-eighth. Many children who attended the school walked for miles to get to and from the building. 

The school was heated by a wood stove and had no indoor plumbing. There is a replica of the original outhouse a few hundred feet behind the school building on the edge of the woods. The drinking water was sourced locally from Gum Spring.

Students used worn books and materials discarded by predominantly White schools. The school was solely funded through tax revenues from Black residents, which resulted in intermittent closures. 

The school was acquired in 1980 by the Boyds Historical Society and restored to its condition circa approximately 1900. It serves as an important resource to teach visitors about the history of the school and education.