Eureka Masonic College, also known as The Little Red Schoolhouse (originally the Richland Literary Institute) in Richland, Holmes County, Mississippi, is widely known as the birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star, created by Robert Morris.

History

The educational institution was established in 1847 by the Masonic Lodges of Holmes County, Mississippi, as the Richland Literary Institute. The lodges raised $3,400 to erect the two-story

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

school building. Pages 59-61 The Holmes County Masons hired Robert Morris away from Mount Sylvan Academy in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to run their new school. In 1848, the school was renamed as the "Eureka Masonic College." Morris was concerned that the female relatives of Masons could not share in the benefits of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. In the winter of 1849-1850, while in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, to recuperate from an attack of an ailment that he described as

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

, he focused his attention on developing a women's Masonic organization. During that winter he developed a system of degrees and other principles for that organization, and in February 1850 wrote Eastern Star's first ritual, titled ''The Rosary of the Eastern Star''. Morris left the school some time thereafter, moving to

Masonic University The Masonic University was an educational facility operated by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky in La Grange, Kentucky, located twenty miles northeast of Louisville, in the mid-nineteenth century. Among its faculty was Kentucky Chief Jurist and Confed ...

in LaGrange, Kentucky. Eureka Masonic College operated until 1861, with a curriculum that never extended past the

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

level. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the school building housed the

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

al headquarters for a Mississippi Infantry regiment.

Segregated public school

After the Civil War, Holmes County took over the abandoned schoolhouse for use as a segregated

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

for

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s. It continued to be used for this purpose until the 1958-1959 school year.

Restoration of building

Following the school's closure, the schoolhouse was leased to the Order of the Eastern Star, which undertook an extensive restoration project that was finally completed in 1979. Ownership was transferred to the Order of the Eastern Star in August 1968.

Location and architecture

The Eureka Masonic College building is located in a rural setting in Holmes County along

Mississippi Highway 17 Mississippi Highway 17 (MS 17) is a state highway in central Mississippi. It runs from north to south for , serving the counties of Madison, a small portion of Yazoo, Holmes, and Carroll. Route description MS 17 begins in rural Madison Coun ...

near Interstate 55. The building's footprint has dimensions of by . There are

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

s over the doorways on its two primary facades. The first story is divided into two large

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

s, and the second story contains a single large meeting hall. At the time of its construction, it was "undoubtedly, the largest building in rural Holmes County." OES Birthplace

References

{{National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Federal architecture in Mississippi Masonic buildings completed in 1847 Holmes County, Mississippi Defunct private universities and colleges in Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1847 Masonic educational institutions in the United States Order of the Eastern Star Historically segregated African-American schools in Mississippi 1847 establishments in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Holmes County, Mississippi Schools in Holmes County, Mississippi Former Masonic buildings in Mississippi

History

Segregated public school

Restoration of building

Location and architecture

See also

References