The school was one of 53 octagonal schoolhouses built in the United States, of which only three survive.

Courses of corbelled brick along the roof line form the building's cornice.

The vestibule at the school's entrance is sided with clapboard and rests on a concrete foundation.

The school's teacher, Daniel Bishop Ling, proposed the construction of an octagonal building, which he believed would allow more light into the classroom and be more likely to survive severe winds.

The Randolph County Historical Society purchased the building in 1960 and subsequently restored it and converted it to an interpretive center of the history of the one-room schoolhouse.