Springfield School Museum

The Springfield School Museum is located on Union Road just west of Marianna, not far from Jackson County’s first county seat of Webbville in the community known as Springfield. While the museum is not open on a regular basis, tours can be arranged through Lillie Clark, who owns LMC Impressions and The Gallery of Art just north of the schoolhouse on Safari Road. She can be reached at 850-263-3111.
Lillie Clark, Mary Beechim, and Elease Varner are all residents of Springfield that have worked diligently to receive funding for restoration of the schoolhouse through grant opportunities made available by the Bureau of Historic Preservation Division of Historical Resources and with assistance provided by the Florida Historical Commission. Many of the original interior furnishings of the school were carefully preserved over time and are used in the present day museum, such as the desks and pews. The original floors and walls were also very carefully preserved, something Lillie Clark doted on in a 2019 interview with Jackson County Times, referring to the schoolhouse being left in “mint condition”. As with any historic structure, original pieces that have been preserved are considered highly valuable, but it is even more so in the case of the limestone walls of the 1920s schoolhouse, constructed out of local limestone blocks. Waddell’s Mill Pond, which is visible from the rear of the schoolhouse, was the source for some of these limestone blocks which Mary Beechim’s brother helped bring up to the school. Mary and her siblings also attended the school during their childhood, allowing for the preservation of memories and experiences of days gone by.