In 1890, about thirty years after slavery was abolished, a schoolhouse for African Americans was established in King and Queen County. J.C. Graves, the pastor of New Mount Zion Baptist Church, served as a schoolteacher for decades.
When the schoolhouse closed in 1937, the New Mount Zion Baptist Church bought the school and turned it into the J.C. Graves Musuem in the honor of their former pastor. Currently, the musuem highlights the legacy of J.C. Graves and the history of African American education in the county.
