Oak Hill & The Marth Berry Museum invites the public to experience Possum Trot Community Day on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 12 to 4 p.m. This free, family-friendly event offers a rare opportunity to look inside the historic Possum Trot church, school buildings, and explore the adjacent Shelton Family Cemetery.
Docents will be on-site to guide visitors through the buildings and provide historical context as guests explore the site. The day’s activities will also include hands-on experiences that demonstrate early 1900s school life. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to take part in traditional games and crafts that students at Possum Trot would have enjoyed, including hopscotch, jacks, and weaving. Jacob Davis, a museum staff member and Berry College student, shared his enthusiasm: “I am looking forward to connecting 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.”
In 1900, Martha Berry began using Possum Trot Church, which was built around 1850, for a Sunday School. In the 1930s, three schoolrooms were added to complement the original church structure, and the site operated as an elementary school until 1954.
The land around Possum Trot was also home to an African American settlement from the 1870s to the early 1900s. The nearby Shelton Family Cemetery is a significant remnant of this community and holds the graves of early settlers and their descendants.
Possum Trot is located at the rear of the Berry College campus and is accessible by following Redmond Gap Road. 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.
Can’t make it to the event? The exterior of the Possum Trot buildings, and the Shelton Family Cemetery, are open for public visitation year-round.
