Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum is excited to host Possum Trot Community Day on Saturday,
September 21, 2024, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. This family-friendly event presents a unique
opportunity to explore the history of the Possum Trot church, school buildings and the adjacent
Shelton Family Cemetery. Docents will be on-site to give more information as guests explore these
historic structures.
The area surrounding Possum Trot was the site of an African American settlement from the 1870s
until the early 1900s. The church itself was built around 1850, and the building was used by Martha
Berry for her Sunday School starting in 1900. In the early 1930s, three schoolrooms were added
that matched the setting of the church. Possum Trot was actively used as a school from about 1900
to 1954.
The event is open to all ages, and will also feature toys, games and other activities that would have
been familiar to students that attended the Possum Trot School in the early 1900s – including
hopscotch, jacks and weaving. Jacob Davis, a museum staff member and Berry College student,
expressed his excitement for the event, stating, “I am looking forward exposing new people to the
amazing history of Possum Trot and immersing them in Berry history with fun activities and our
docents’ knowledge of the space.”
Possum Trot is located at the back of the Berry College campus and can be found by navigating to
Redmond Gap Road. On arrival at the Berry College front gate, Welcome Center staff will provide
guests with a campus map and further directions. Please note that traveling to Possum Trot
requires driving down a gravel road that may not be accessible to all vehicles. In the event of
inclement weather, Community Day will be cancelled – please refer to Oak Hill & The Martha Berry
Museum’s social media for updates. The Oak Hill home and The Martha Berry Museum locations
will be closed on September 21st and will resume normal operations on September 23rd.
Need more information? Contact the Martha Berry Museum at 706-368-6789 or [email protected].
Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum, part of Berry College, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Saturday.