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Annual festival marks founding of Willow Hill School in 1874
Dr. Alvin Jackson, center, gives a personal tour of a reconstructed Bennett Grove schoolhouse during the Willow Hill Heritage Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12. The building is Bulloch County's last African American one-room schoolhouse.
- photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff
Held each year at the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center, the 2026 Festival commemorated 152 years since the founding of Willow Hill School in 1874 and as the nation commemorated the 250th anniversary of the United States.
While touring the William James High School room with Dr. Alvin Jackson, Brent Mosley spots a picture of his mother Bernice Riggs in the Class of 1956 during the Willow Hill Heritage Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12.
- photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff
The 2026 Festival was a history-focused celebration emphasizing museum exhibits, African American genealogy, family history, historic preservation and the heritage of the Willow Hill community and surrounding areas.
Willow Hill Heritage & Renaissance Center board president Alvin Jackson, left, introduces guests to the center's archive during Saturday's Festival. It is the largest archive of African American genealogical records in Georgia.
- photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff
With a vintage record player in the foreground, Dr. Alvin Jackson shows off collections of quilts and other vintage furnishings from the Willow Hill community during the Willow Hill Heritage Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12.
- photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff
