Hosanna School

2424 Castleton Road

Darlington, MD

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The Hosanna School, also known as the Berkley School, was the first of the four Freedmen’s Bureau schoolhouses in Harford County, Maryland. The property was built on land formerly owned by a free African American named Cupid Paca, who bought 50 acres in 1822. The Freedmen’s Bureau assisted with partial funding for the construction of a two-story wood-frame building to serve as a schoolhouse. In 1879, the Harford County School Commissioners assumed operation of the Hosanna School.

 

The Hosanna Community House Inc., formed in 1948, runs the museum and works to bring visitors from all over the country to visit the living schoolhouse museum and encourages locals to use it as a community center.

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After the 2015 restoration of the second floor, the board converted the school into a museum, now known as Hosanna School Museum.