Hamilton Primary School Festival Returning To Otterville For 42nd Year

OTTERVILLE – The 42nd annual Hamilton Primary School Festival is returning soon to the historical grounds of America’s first-ever integrated school.

This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025 from 12 to 5 p.m. The event will welcome visitors to the historic schoolhouse grounds at 107 E. Main St. in Otterville for a weekend of fun with games, food, live music, and more – with no cost for admission.

2025 also marks the 26th year of the festival’s famous Bake-Off and Auction on Saturday, Sept. 27. Participants are encouraged to bake their best cookies, pastries, pie, cake, or bread for a chance to win one of three cash prizes: $30 for first place, $20 for second place, and $15 for third place.

Bake-Off contestants should only prepare one item per entry, unless they’re submitting cookies or pastries, in which case they should prepare a dozen of either item. All entries must be brought to the school basement by 11 a.m., with the auction to follow at 1 p.m. Bake-Off Entry Forms are available on the Hamilton Primary School website for interested participants, who can also register by calling or texting event organizer Mary Drainer at 618-535-0342.

This year’s festival will also welcome a variety of craft vendors selling their locally made goods. Craft Vendor Booth Forms are also available online for interested vendors to complete. There is no cost to set up a booth at the festival, but vendors must provide their own tables and cover for shade. More details are available here.

As always, 100% of the event proceeds will go towards the ongoing restoration of the Hamilton Primary School building, which will be open for tours during the festival. Built from 1834 to 1836, the school has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998.

The Hamilton Primary School was the first-ever integrated school in America and the first free school in the state of Illinois. A sign just outside the building proudly recalls its significant history, which began after Vermont physician Dr. Silas Hamilton moved to the Otterville area in 1830 with his former slave, who was named George Washington.

According to the Otter Creek Historical Society, Hamilton had tried unsuccessfully to run a Southern slave plantation “in an intelligent and humane way as an example to his neighbors in Adams County Mississippi in 1820.” After closing the plantation, Hamilton moved north and freed each of his 28 slaves – including a young boy named George Washington, who chose to stay with Hamilton as he settled in Greene County.

Hamilton had set aside $4,000 for the construction of a primary school upon his death in 1834, which he envisioned to be free for all area residents – including Washington, who attended the primary school and went on to become the Sunday School superintendent at Otterville Baptist Church. Hamilton set aside $1,500 upon his own death to build a monument to Hamilton, which still stands today near the school.

In a crypt buried just west of the school building, Washington and Hamilton are laid to rest in the only known instance of a former master and former slave being buried beside one another.

To find out more about this year’s Hamilton Primary School Festival, see the event page on Riverbender.com, call 618-535-0342, or visit the Hamilton Primary School website.

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