History People
Hill Grove School records a community’s investment in education
Alec and Emma Cook’s land donation places people at the center of this history.
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The Cooks’ donation and the school years
Hill Grove School near Hurt preserves a chapter of African American education before public-school integration. Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources identifies Alec and Emma Cook as donors of a one-acre school site in 1912.
The two-room frame schoolhouse was completed in 1915 and remained in educational use until 1964.
The surviving building and its legacy
Surviving features include weatherboard siding, a standing-seam metal roof and a fieldstone foundation. The property later became part of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.
The Cooks’ contribution matters alongside the architecture: local investment created a place for education.
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Use the state record and nomination for research. Historic designation does not give permission to enter, and this guide does not assert regular public tours.
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Sources & verification
Updated June 3, 2024. Checked September 7, 2026. Original AI-assisted source synthesis; no interviews claimed.
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