BEALSVILLE, Fla. — In the small town of Bealsville, history unites its residents. The unincorporated community, situated between Plant City and Lithia, was founded by a dozen freed slaves in 1865.

What You Need To Know

  • Bealsville is an unincorporated community located between Plant City and Lithia

  • The town was founded by freed slaves in 1865

  • The Glover School served as the segregated school for Black children and later became a 6th grade school, following integration

  • Community members are dedicated to preserving the school and its history

The Glover School stands as a symbol of the town's history. Rodney Mackey, a lifelong resident, describes the school as a beacon of his community. Almost every generation has ties to its historic grounds. 

“We used to have our little May Day pole tradition out here and stuff," Mackey said, walking around the front lawn of the school. "Those types of things, man, really stick in your head for a long time. A lot of the younger people don’t know about that.”

The Glover School opened in 1873 and served as the segregated school for Black children. Later, after integration, it became a 6th grade school. 

Mackey was a Glover student from 1966 to 1970 and returned in 1974 for 6th grade. To him, the halls hold many fond memories. 

“Hopefully we can kind of show our history, our tradition still even after 40 years this place has been closed," Mackey said. "It still holds a place in everybody’s hearts.”

Over the years, community members have put in a lot of hard work to preserve the historic landmark. It's costly – in both time and money – to maintain the school's five buildings on 10 acres of land. 

On Saturday, community members came together for Jazz Under the Trees, a fundraiser to help support the facilities. 

“To have a change in what we’re doing, we need more funds," Mackey said. "That’s to pay the bills, but it does do a good job of getting us through the year.”

Mackey said the goal is to raise around $20,000 dollars. Some of that will go towards remodeling one of the old classroom buildings.

As the population of Glover's students gets older, Mackey is passionate about passing the history down to the next generation. He wants to ensure the place that molded him – and many others – is never forgotten.

“If you don’t look out for your history, then how are you going to have a future?" Mackey said. "You look out for your history, the past is what you can tell so that you can learn about the future.”

The Glover School closed in 1980 and is now a community center and museum. It's open for tours Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.