Old schoolhouse serves as museum for black history in Middleburg

MIDDLEBURG, Fla. — The Hilltop Black Heritage Education Center and Museum can be found down a dirt road in Middleburg.

It was a schoolhouse back in 1903.

”I started here in 1947 at the age of 5 and my chair was right in here,” said founder Maud Burroughs Jackson.

Jackson said she turned her old schoolhouse into a museum so her community of Middleburg could learn about black history.

Burroughs Jackson said the center hopes to take the building and move it to a future site just down the road where another building may also go up.

“It would serve as an activity center where we would have classroom auditorium,” said Burroughs Jackson.

She said they would move the schoolhouse closer to the new building.

But the organization is still in the early planning stages, and the building she's envisioning cost around $1 million.

She's hoping historical grants could help fund the project but private donations are also needed.

She said it’s worth it to give the community a hands-on learning experience about black history.

Cox Media Group