GOVAN, S.C. - A grassroots organization is continuing its efforts to raise funds to renovate the old Middle Place School near Govan, which was built in 1885.

The nonprofit Middle Place Learning & Information Station Inc., led by Willie Cam Nimmons, executive director, is working to secure grants and other funds for the restoration of the old school. The organization wants to turn the old schoolhouse into a multipurpose community center and museum which would provide an insight into early African-American education and detail the history of the Middle Place community.

According to Nimmons, the Middle Pace community was settled in the 1700s by immigrants from Ireland. It was carved out of a plantation owned by John and Robert Nimmons Kennedy. Later, their descendants, Andrew and William Bill Nimmons, owned the property. Records indicate they bought, sold and owned slaves.

Nimmons said the community got its name because it was located in the middle of the vast Nimmons Plantation. She said oral history details the arrival of Union soldiers at Middle Place Plantation during the Civil War. The owner feared for his life as the Yankees approached the plantation, and the slaves hid their master in a thicket, she said.

Once the danger passed, Bill Nimmons showed his gratitude by giving each African-American man on Middle Place all the land he and his family could clear, Nimmons said. The slaves soon realized the need for education for themselves and their children, leading to the creation of the Middle Place School.

The founder of Voorhees College, Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, taught at the Middle Place School prior to founding Voorhees College in Denmark. The school served primer through eighth grade.

Lou Tyler, a former Middle Place School student, credits the school as being responsible for her learning to read before she started formal school.

"There I learned the love of school at an early age," said Tyler, who is an active member of the Middle Place Learning & Information Station.

Tyler's sister, Denmark Mayor Carrie Simmons, also attended the Middle Place School until she was in the fourth grade.

"My beginning of school was at the Middle Place School, where I remember learning the basics," she said.

Ella Hiers Breland, who lived at Middle Place, said many of those who attended the old school have expressed an interest in helping with the renovation project.

T&D Correspondent Hope Long Weldon can be reached by e-mail at james3091@aol.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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