Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Sydenstricker Schoolhouse

In 1897 Barney Deavers deeded land to build Pohick School #8 on this site. The school burned in July 1928 and a new schoolhouse was constructed and opended four months later. Locally known as the Sydenstricker School, it was the last public one-room schoolhouse built in Fairfax County. After closing in 1939, it continued to be used by the community for social and civic events. The Upper Pohick Community League, organized in 1948, purchased the schoolhouse property from the School Board in 1954 and was influential in the improvement of local roads, public utilities, and the development of the surrounding community.

Marker Erected 2017 by Fairfax County History Commission.
Although the marker is dated 2016 it was installed in 2017.


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Here follows a history of the schoolhouse as published by the Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (FSS):

The Sydenstricker Schoolhouse was built in Springfield, Fairfax County, Virginia in 1928. Once the center of education and social activities in our community, the schoolhouse now stands as a reminder of a past era, and a testament to the generations of people that have loved, cared for and preserved the building over the years. What’s really special about this place isn’t just that it is a 90 year old historic schoolhouse, but that after all these years it is still a living, breathing, thriving community center. Its function and role in our community has changed through the years, but its value to our community has not diminished.
The schoolhouse is the last remaining example of an early 20th century one-room schoolhouse in Fairfax County in nearly original condition and still on its original site. Except for a few minor changes, the building remains architecturally and structurally intact. It was the last one-room schoolhouse in the county built prior to consolidation, and when it closed in 1939 it was among the last operating one-room schoolhouses in Fairfax County. The schoolhouse has been owned and maintained by the Upper Pohick Community League since they purchased it from the Fairfax County School District in 1954.

The cloakroom is topped with a simple belfry which still holds the original school bell.


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Here follows a history of the schoolhouse as published by the Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (FSS):

The Sydenstricker Schoolhouse was named in honor of the Reverend Christopher Sydenstricker, who founded the neighboring Sydenstricker Chapel, built in 1911. Sydenstricker was the uncle of the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning author, Pearl Sydenstricker Buck.


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Here follows a history of the schoolhouse as published by the Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (FSS):

The first schoolhouse on the site was known as the Pohick School #8, and was built around 1900 on land donated by civil war veteran, Barney Deavers (who is buried within view of the schoolhouse at the adjacent Sydenstricker Methodist Cemetery). It replaced another schoolhouse located a mile away (the Barkers School), which was built around 1874.

The original schoolhouse on the site burned in July 1928. A new, larger school was constructed in only 4 months, and opened to students in November 1928. The school became known as the Sydenstricker School (for its proximity to the neighboring Sydenstricker Church).

On November 23, 1928 the Fairfax Herald reported:
The new school is completed and has been turned over to the school board. It will be opened this week, and contains new desks and other equipment. It is a model one-room schoolhouse.

The belfry still contains the original school-bell. The bell was purchased in the 1920s from a Sears store in Alexandria, and survived the fire of 1928 that claimed the original building.

In 1934 the school was closed, and the children were sent to the Burke School. The community petitioned to re-open the schoolhouse, and in September 1937 the school was re-opened to the first four grades. The schoolhouse closed for good in June 1939.

Despite being closed, the schoolhouse continued to be used regularly for community events, wedding receptions and meetings. In August 1943 the building became home to the Red Cross “Sydenstricker Surgical Dressing Unit”, for the purpose of making bandages for the war. By May 1944 the Fairfax Herald reported that the unit had completed their 10,000th surgical dressing.

In 1954 the Upper Pohick Community League (originally the Sydenstricker School & Community League, which was the "PTA" of the schoolhouse) purchased the building from the school district for $550 to use as a community center. For many years it was the center of social activities in our area. During the 1950s the League sponsored a Boy and Girl Scout troop, as well as a “Litter Buggy” which collected trash from local roads. It was a thriving, active group that influenced the development of local roads, bridges and sub-divisions in a time when our area was very rural. The UPCL still owns and maintains the schoolhouse, and is the oldest continually operating community association in Springfield, and among the oldest in Fairfax County.

The schoolhouse is listed in the Fairfax Inventory of Historic Sites, The Virginia Landmark Register, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.


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Here follows a history of the schoolhouse as published by the Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (FSS):

For nearly a century the schoolhouse has been home to the Upper Pohick Community League, and its predecessor, the Sydenstricker School & Community League. These organizations played a vital role in the development and improvement of our community, and continue to do so today.

Over the years, the schoolhouse has been used for many social and community events, as the site of a WWII Red Cross surgical dressing unit to support the war effort, and as a community hall to support many programs and projects to improve our neighborhood. Community involvement centered at the schoolhouse was influential in determining the location of the Springfield post office (1949), the site for the Fairfax Hospital (1956) and the name of the new Springfield high school (1958). In the 1980s the Fairfax County Parkway was originally planned to be built directly over the schoolhouse, but due to the efforts of our community league, the location of the Parkway was shifted, thereby saving the schoolhouse and the neighboring historic chapel.

In recent years, the schoolhouse has been used for a debate between state senate candidates and district council meetings. It has also been made available for meetings by non-profit groups, lectures, HOA meetings and as a rehearsal location for a non-profit theater company. Our restoration efforts ensure that the schoolhouse can continue to serve our community for many years to come.


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Here follows a history of the schoolhouse as published by the Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (FSS):

Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (FSS), incorporated in 2014, is a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of our historic community schoolhouse. The mission of FSS is to make the schoolhouse a place that will continue to serve the community as a meeting place, as a visible reminder of Fairfax County's past, and as a testament to the generations of people who have cared for the building since its construction. As a community landmark it is a reminder of life in a small rural community in the early 20th century, and is worthy of preservation for future generations.

Funds raised will provide for future renovations and improvements to the schoolhouse and grounds, including complete exterior and interior restoration, an updated heating and cooling system, and other functional necessities that will make the building a more useable space for the community. All work will be performed under the guidance of experts in the field of historic preservation, and with the utmost sensitivity to the fragility and importance of the schoolhouse.

Fundraising activities, and the generous donations and contributions from the community and the general public support this mission. We gratefully accept donations to help defray the costs of the preservation and maintenance of this historic property.


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Here follows an excerpt about the deli from the "Springfield Things" blog written by Wesley Clark:

Thursday, October 2, 2014
Sydenstricker Schoolhouse

When I first moved to Springfield I obtained an 1870-something map of Fairfax County and noted that there was a schoolhouse located at the spot our little red schoolhouse is at, and made the mistake of thinking that it dated from that period. Nope.

The little red schoolhouse - formally, The Sydenstricker Schoolhouse - actually sits on Hooes Road (according to oldtimers in town, it's properly pronounced "hoes," not "whose") near the Sydenstricker-Hooes intersection, and was built in 1928. So think of the Little Rascals and Miss Crabtree - it's from that era. It closed in 1939. It's about a mile from where I live.

The schoolhouse is owned and maintained by the Upper Pohick Community League. From their Facebook page:

The Upper Pohick Community League was founded in the late 1940's, and was the original neighborhood association, tying together families who lived in the Upper Pohick / South Hunt Valley area of Springfield, VA. It was a thriving group that influenced the development of local roads, bridges and sub-divisions, in a time when our area was very rural. The League purchased the old Sydenstricker School (the Little Red Schoolhouse) at public auction in the early 1950's, and it has been our League hall ever since. For many years it was the center of social activities in our area. More recently with the growth of individual neighborhood associations within each local subdivision, the League has become primarily focused on the preservation of the Schoolhouse, and its place in our community.

The UPCL sometimes holds yard sales here to raise money for the building's maintenance.

Back in 2006 I had a very Virginian experience in this room: I gave a slideshow lecture to UPCL members about the Legend and True History of Northern Virginia's Famous "Bunny Man." It was based on work Brian Conley did which I supplemented with recorded interviews with the people involved in the incident.

The schoolhouse is across the street from the modern Sydenstricker United Methodist Church building.