The Cokesbury College Historical & Recreational Commission, will provide tours of Cokesbury College from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Visitors will see all the recent restoration efforts, both inside and outside of the College building.

Commissioners, acting as tour guides, will discuss the Commission’s short and long-range plans for enhancing access to and community use of the College and grounds.  In addition, Commissioners will discuss planned restoration of other elements of the Cokesbury Community, including the Chapel and the original General Store and Post Office buildings which are located across the street from the College.

Cokesbury College was built in 1854 and opened as one of the earliest Masonic Female Collegiate Institutes in the rural southeast.  Cokesbury College is the centerpiece of the original 19th century utopian Cokesbury Community.  The College building and grounds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and are maintained and managed by the Cokesbury College Historical and Recreational Commission.

Historic Cokesbury College
Although Cokesbury feels a bit “off the beaten path” today, it was once one of the most prominent communities in the upper part of South Carolina. At its peak, it was a thriving hub of education for the entire state, and many influential South Carolinians called it home. From Tabernacle to Cokesbury The story of Cokesbury began when visionaries in the Tabernacle Community decided to build a new school. After much deliberation, a public meeting was held on July 4, 1824 to promote the idea of develop-ing a new village around the new school’s location. The name of the new village: Mount Ariel.