New Potter's Hill School (1917-1934) (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the school once stood. No visible remains exist.


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Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

The Potter’s Hill community, once located near the intersection of Beulah Road and Telegraph Road, was home to two school buildings. The first was constructed around 1877 on land donated by Charles Potter. It was replaced in 1917 by the four-room schoolhouse pictured here. Former student Marjorie Tharpe fondly recalled Halloween celebrations at the school when the children bobbed for apples in a washtub. The new Potter’s Hill School was destroyed by fire in March 1934 and was not replaced.


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Here is information about the Potter's Hill schools written on a nearby roadside historical marker:

Schools at Potters Hill:
Based on picture captions left by early local historians like Edith Sprouse we believe there were at least three different school houses at the intersection of Telegraph and Beulah Roads. We have pictures and some dates for the second and third Potter’s Hill schools. The original school probably dated back to at least 1870 when public education became mandatory under state law.

(photo caption, top left)The second Potter’s Hill School, a typical one room school house used until the 1916 school year. Most of the students in the picture have been identified and included children from the Baggett, Allen, Landstreet, Petitt, Jacobs, Brown, Smith, Schurtz, Dorsey, and Talbert families. The teacher was Lelia Milstead and the dog in front of the students was named “Shea.”

(photo caption, center left) Front Entrance of the third and last Potter’s Hill School. Local residents from the Potter's Hill area and the village of Accotink dug a basement on the corner across from the one room school and convinced the county to build a modern schoolhouse on the site. The school burned down in 1932.

Marjorie Baggett Tharpe who still lives near Potter's Hill provides the following description of the school. “Inside was a wide hall. The left, front room was the auditorium, and the right front room was the 3rd and 4th grades taught by Mrs. Schurtz/Schartz. The left back room was the 5th, 6th, and 7th grades taught by Miss Nellie Nevitt. The right, back room was the 1st and 2nd grades, taught by Miss Wrenn Biller. There was a large basement where the bathrooms were located.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2018 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter as published by the Franconia Museum:

FIRE AT POTTER’S HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Pat Ritter recently communicated through the Franconia Museum website seeking information about Potter's Hill School. Pat has a copy of her father's third grade report card from the 1933-34 school year. Part of the card was marked, "grades destroyed by fire." Pat thought the school burned down in 1939, and wanted to know about the fire mentioned in the report card.

We turned to Marge Tharpe, our Senior Advisor, for the answer. It turns out that Marge was in the first grade at Potter's Hill at that time and remembered the incident. The school near the intersection of what is now Beulah Street and Telegraph Road was totally destroyed by fire during the Christmas break. The children in first through fourth grades finished the school year at the Odd Fellows Hall in Accotink, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades finished school in Accotink Church. The school was not rebuilt, and therefore there was no fire in 1939. In fact, Clem Gailliot bought the property from the School Board in 1938, according to School Board minutes. The Ritters lived near the intersection of Accotink and Telegraph Roads at the time. The following year, the students transferred to Franconia Elementary School.

Marge Tharpe is the mother of Judy Hutchinson, our secretary. Both are valued members of our team. We are particularly indebted to our Senior Advisors... Marge, Jimmy Woodard, Margaret Welch, and Sonny Wright for their help in answering questions just like this one.


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Here follows an excerpt from "The Dixie Pig" blog written by Senator Scott Surovell in 2013:

Potter’s Hill. Telegraph and Accotink Roads (now approximately Telegraph and Beulah Roads). Built prior to1879, the school was replaced by a new structure in 1917 that offered both elementary grades as well as a few high school subjects. Not deeded to the county until 1918, Potter’s Hill burned in 1934.