Mountain Gap in Winter

Passed by Mountain Gap School while heading home from school. Thought it looked great in the snow.

The paint looks very weathered, it needs a new paint job.

Fun fact: Mountain Gap was originally painted white, like most one room schools in Loudoun County. One of its owners before Oatlands bought it painted it red.

Mountain Gap School

   Have you ever gone south of Leesburg down Route 15 and passed a little red schoolhouse? Ever thought, 'That looks cool,' but didn't actually stop by? Well, this summer I decided to finally visit it. It is the Mountain Gap School, a one-room schoolhouse! It is part of the village of Mountain Gap. What, it's not by anything? That's because it is the last building left of the village of Mountain Gap.

Needs a little paint love. Other than that, it's in amazing condition.

Looking through the windows

Poor students in the first row, no desk to write on!

The backside of the school!

Fun Fact: The remains of a wasp nest are in the front light.

   When Mountain Gap closed in 1953, it was the last operational one room schoolhouse for white students. In 1957, after 90 years of service, Second Street School for blacks in Waterford closed, the last one room schoolhouse. And that was the end of the era of one-room schoolhouses in Loudoun County.

   Mountain Gap was originally painted white, as were most Loudoun County one room schoolhouses. One of its owners after the school closed painted it red, to give it the romanticized American "little red schoolhouse" look.

   Mountain Gap is now owned by Oatlands Plantation (right across the road!), where they open the school for school groups for educational tours.

   So if you are driving down Route 15 some time in the near future, satiate your curiosity and stop by Mountain Gap.

Sources:
Places Discovered: Mountain Gap School (In the video, you can still see the wasp's nest 0:22)
Oatlands Plantation
"A Brief History of Loudoun County Schools" Loudoun Public Information Office


PS: Mountain Gap had a cameo on the first page in Lord Loudoun 1978