Howland Chapel School & Teachers’ Cottage

This is a virtual tour of the Howland Chapel School located in Howland, an unincorporated community in Northumberland County. Built in 1867 by local carpenters and laborers to serve the children of the formerly enslaved, this is a rare and little-altered Reconstruction-era schoolhouse and one of the earliest public schoolhouses on the Northern Neck. Emily Howland, a New York educator, reformer, and philanthropist, funded the one-story frame building, and she and members of the local Black community supported and maintained the school until the Northumberland County school board took control of the property. The building also served as a Baptist house of worship from 1867 to circa 1920. A cottage where the teacher lived also remains on the grounds.