After the Civil War, families of African-American, Native American, and mixed ancestry migrated here from Fauquier, Culpeper, Rappahannock, and Warren Counties. The Allen, Berry, Fletcher, Nickens, and Peyton families, along with former slaves from this area, acquired parts of former plantations, built homes, and established the farming community of Thoroughfare, which prospered through the 1940s. Many of the Free People of Color who settled here were illiterate, but their families were not accepted into the schools and churches of their white neighbors. In 1885, the North Fork School was built by local labor with county funding on land donated by the Primas family. In 1899, community growth compelled the families to construct a second-floor room and hire an additional teacher at their own expense. In 1909, members of the community built Oakrum Baptist Church on donated land and selected their own ministers.