The 1906 schoolhouse, owned by Northumberland Preservation, Inc.
(NPI), is located on Diller's Corner
(the intersection of Shiloh School Road and Balls Neck Road)
in the beautiful countryside of
Northumberland County.
Shiloh School is the last unaltered example of the one room
schools that were built throughout
Northumberland County in the early days of public education. It is
sited on a one acre plot of land
deeded to the Wicomico Magisterial School in 1905 by farmer Diller.
Officially known as Public
School #8, Shiloh School, was built of lumber cut and milled on the
Diller Farm in the summer of
1906 by local men whose children would be educated there. One of the
unusual features of the
school is its side gabled structure and the exterior style
construction of its interior chimney. The school
is clad in pine weatherboard and has the metal clad roof common in
the early 1900s. Shiloh School
served the children of the area until it was replaced by a new,
larger school at Wicomico Church in
1929. From then until it was given to NPI in 1987 by James and Emily
Hudnall, the old school was
used as a farm storage building.
Thanks to the efforts of the NPI Volunteers Shiloh School has been
extensively restored to
its original configuration. The volunteers work continuously to
maintain its structural integrity of this
Northumberland Landmark. Due to the efforts of NPI,
Shiloh School is registered as a Historic
Virginia Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. Schedule improvements
to the site include digging a shallow well, installing sanitary
facilities and the installation of a cast iron
propane stove. With these improvements NPI hopes to be able to
provide a meeting place for local
nonprofit groups in the area.
NPI welcomes and encourages local nonprofit, environmental,
conservation, naturalist, historic and
school organizations to visit and use their facility. To date the
Shiloh School has been used by the
Northern Neck Land Conservancy, the Northern Neck RiverRide Cyclists
and Lancaster Primary
School.
The entire Balls Neck Area recalls rural heritage and history.
The surrounding open space is unspoiled
farm and forest, with ever changing colors of the season. Two
Virginia Natural Area Preserves on the
Cheaspeake Bay, Dameron Marsh (316 acres) to the north and Hughlett
Point (204 acres) to the south,
can be accessed from the school via Balls Neck Road. The Virginia
Department of Conservation and
Recreation, plus volunteers from the area, welcome interested
visitors, family groups and organizations
to schedule guided tours and walks: however, anyone may walk these
areas at any time, during normal
daylight hours. Brochures for self guided tours of the preserves are
being
developed and should soon
be available.
