Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, with a total length of 5.7 kilometers and spanning an area of 1.2 square meters, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the masterpiece of King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty and features dozens of facilities, including four gates, especially Paldalmun Gate.

Near Hwahongmun Gate, north of Hwaseong, there remain the vestiges of Suwon’s vivid history of modern education. In the middle of the campus of the old Samil School, which has been expanded into a middle school, commercial high school, and industrial high school, stands Adams Memorial Hall, which was a school building during Korea’s modernization period.

This school building was constructed in 1923, the year of the 17th anniversary of the opening of the Samil School, which made its start by holding classes in just a few rooms in a church. Minister Nobel, who managed churches in Suwon at the time, began construction of the school with the support of the Adams Church, after which the Adams Memorial Hall was named.

Operating out of church buildings, Samil School started teaching dozens of students, and with the assistance of western missionaries, a new school building (now Adams Memorial Hall) was built to accommodate hundreds of students.

During the Japanese colonial period, the founders of Samil School were dedicated to saving their homeland through education, and their noble ideal has been cherished here for 100 years.