An old Cecil County schoolhouse where African-American children were taught for nearly 80-years still stands on a quiet hillside outside Pleasant Hill. Benjamin Griffith donated the property for the Cedar Hill School on Feb.11, 1871. His deed said “that in consideration of my regard for the education of the colored children of my neighborhood and the sum of one dollar,” he was granting the land. The nearby church, Griffith AUMP, was also built on land also donated by Mr. Griffith. The church was dedicated on June 7, 1874, at a service conducted by the Rev. E. W. Scott of Elkton.
Once the one-room school opened, generations of African-American children from the Cedar Hill community were educated there. But by 1948 the board of education reported that the building, which had served its purpose well, should be closed because of its physical condition. Within a few years, the building that had been a proud part of the small community closed and the children were transported to George Washington Carver School in Elkton. Integration of the county school system was still over a decade away.
