Baldwin County, Alabama

This historic marker tells the story of Peirce’s School and Mill, one of the earliest known educational and industrial sites in what would later become the state of Alabama. Located near Boatyard Lake in Baldwin County, the site was home to a sawmill established by brothers John and William Peirce during the 1790s, as well as what is believed to have been Alabama’s first public school around 1800. Students reportedly traveled by foot, horseback, and canoe to attend the frontier “blab school,” where lessons were taught through oral repetition. During the Creek War, the Peirce property was fortified into “Fort Peirce,” where settlers sought refuge during the tense days surrounding the attack on Fort Mims in 1813.

Marker Text

The first public school in what would become Alabama was located near Boatyard Lake and near the site of Peirce’s Mill. John Peirce founded the school around 1800. Students arrived daily on foot, by canoe, or on horseback and they were of European-American, Creek Indian, and mixed heritage. Lessons were taught by oral repetition and it was called a ‘blab’ school.

Brothers John and William Peirce began operating their saw mill in the 1790s. They produced lumber for home and boat construction. With news of the Creek uprising, the Peirce brothers fortified their home and mill site. During the attack on Ft Mims on August 30, 1813, some 200 settlers who sought refuge inside the stockade at ‘Ft Peirce’ could hear the gunfire, being only a short distance up the lake. Fearful of being attacked, the following day those settlers headed down the river to Mobile.

Old Federal Road Project

This marker was photographed and documented as part of the Old Federal Road Project, an ongoing effort to visit and document historic sites, communities, and markers connected to the route of the Old Federal Road across South Alabama.

Location

Near Boatyard Lake
Baldwin County, Alabama

31.1768, -87.8395