In the 1920s, African Americans in this area organized a patrons' league and campaigned for a new school to replace an inadequate facility then in use. Shady Grove School, built on a standard one-teacher architectural plan, opened here in 1925 for students in grades 1-7. Funding for the building came from the African American community ($700), Louisa County ($400), and the Julius Rosenwald Fund ($400). Established by the president of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and inspired by the work of Booker T. Washington, the Rosenwald Fund helped build more than 5,000 schools and supporting structures for African Americans in the rural South between 1917 and 1932. Shady Grove School closed in 1962.