Hickory Grove was one of numerous schools for African-American children in rural Hancock County, and though it resembles a Rosenwald, no records can be found to indicate such a connection. It’s more likely that builders, aware of the functional designs of the Rosenwald schools, simply copied their floor plans. Hickory Grove was associated with the adjacent Hickory Grove [Missionary] Baptist Church and likely dates to the 1920s.

Consolidation of rural schools, both white and black, was responsible for hundreds of such closures from the late 1940s through the mid 1960s and concern over desegregation certainly accelerated this process. Hickory Grove, as well as 14 other Hancock County African-American schools, was officially closed in January 1960.