The little red schoolhouse on Dauphin Island has long held a special place for those who live on the barrier island, and a group of residents set out to make sure it endures. As plans advanced for a new school, islanders organized to preserve the old building rather than see it lost.
“It’s a big project, but we’re confident we can do it,” said Kathryn Carver, who was leading the fundraising effort.
From the Shell Mounds to Bienville
The schoolhouse was built in 1930 near the Shell Mounds, a few blocks west of Cadillac Square and a street north of Bienville. The original building held two rooms, a hall and an auditorium. Islander Clinton Collier recalled that in the early 1960s the school was moved to its current location on Bienville, near the public beach and pier, and additional classrooms were added in the early 2000s.
Town Councilmember Shirley Robinson said the council had been working with architect William Phillips, an island resident, to determine what would be needed to move the school to a new location. The relocation was estimated to cost up to $300,000. Robinson said the plan was to renovate the schoolhouse rather than fully restore it.
A fundraising drive takes shape
Carver, of the Dauphin Island Heritage and Arts Council, said the moving fund was launched with a $20,000 grant from BP, and that a committee of volunteers was working to apply for additional grants. Alongside the grants, the group planned a series of fundraisers.
The most recent had been a raffle held during the 81st Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. The next event, called “Stirring the Sand,” was scheduled for Monday, July 28, and would feature stories of Old Dauphin Island shared at the little red schoolhouse beginning at 7 p.m.
A future home for history and art
Once moved, Carver and Robinson said, the building would become the Dauphin Island Heritage & Arts Center. Half of the facility would be dedicated to the island’s history and operated by the Town of Dauphin Island, with organizers hoping residents would donate artifacts and photographs so visitors could learn more about the island’s past.
“The more I learn, the more I want to learn. It’s a unique place in the state,” Carver said.
The other half would serve as an art gallery operated by the Dauphin Island Heritage and Arts Council, showcasing and selling work primarily by island artists. The center would also host art classes and other arts-related programs.
The effort reflected a broader impulse common to small coastal communities, where aging landmarks often carry outsized meaning for longtime residents. On a barrier island shaped by storms and shifting sands, preserving a building that had stood since 1930 became a way of holding onto the island’s story even as a new school rose to serve its children.
Organizers invited supporters to contribute, asking that checks be made payable to “Little Red School House” and sent to the Dauphin Island Foundation. With grant applications pending and fundraisers on the calendar, the volunteers pressed ahead, confident, as Carver put it, that the project was within reach.