Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
All of these schoolhouse have been relocated from their original locations...Maybe detecting the original property would yeild some nice finds
In the early 1900s, there were about 7,000 one-room schoolhouses in Michigan. There are fewer than 2,000 now, but only 20 still serve as functioning schoolhouses, according to the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse
Lee School - Charlton Park, Hastings
The Lee School, originally located two miles west of Woodland, on the northeast corner of M-43 and Martin Road in Barry County, was constructed in 1869 on land previously owned by William Lee. There was a belfry added to the building in about 1900, but had to be removed several years before the building was moved to historic Charlton Park in Hastings. The present belfry's one that was constructed on the Bird School during the same period. The Lee School was closed after the 1992-23 school year, due to the consolidation of the Woodland Schools. The building was used for grain storage until it was moved to Charlton Park in 1973.
The present Dibble School at Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson was built in 1885 for approximately $650 and was the third school building to stand at the corner of Kibby and Robinson Roads in Summit Township. It was moved in 1967 to the museum grounds and is now restored to the 1900 appearance. The date of the first schoolhouse, built of logs, is lost. The date of the second school, built of stone, is 1868. The Dibble School, Summit Township District No. 2, was an autonomous district until 1957, the year of its consolidation with the Union School District in Jackson.
Portage No. 8 School - Celery Flats
In 1856, Harvey and Rirza Booth donated land to construct a schoolhouse in Section 32 in the southwest corner of the township of Portage. The building, then known as the Prairie Edge School, was constructed in 1859. The District No. 8 school served the educational needs of rural Portage elementary school children until 1947, when the consolidation of the school district forced it to close. The city of Portage purchased the former school building and moved it to the Celery Flats interpretive historical park complex in 1990. Portage District No. 8 School is a one-story gable-roofed, white -painted frame Greek Revival building resting on a fieldstone foundation
Jewitt Schoolhouse - Allegan County Historical Village, Allegan
In The History of Allegan County of 1907, Jewitt School is referred to as Brownell School, apparently named after the owner of the land in the neighborhood of the school. Later, George Jewitt owned the farm the school was located on, buying it in 1853. Jewitt, who came to Michigan from Lincoln County, Maine in 1848 at the age of 19 or 20, helped construct a sawmill on the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck and worked there until he could afford the 320 acres. Having worked as a lumberman since the age of 16, he cleared 90 acres of the densely forested land within 8 months. His wife, a Miss Constance Bingham, whom he married 2 years after buying the land, was a teacher before they were married. One of Jewitt's sons, also named George, later owned the land the school was built on. In 1918, the two fifths of an acre which contained the school, was sold to School District No. 5 for $112.50. In 1971, the Jewitt School building was moved to the Allegan County Fairgrounds to be a part of the Pioneer Village. Originally, the Millgrove school building was considered, but the structure wasn't up to travel. However, Jewitt School had its bell tower removed at some point, so the bell tower from the Millgrove School is the one that sits on top of Jewitt
DeWitt School - Spring Lake
Built in 1891, DeWitt School typifies the one-room schools of the turn of the century. It stands on an acre of land that was donated by the DeWitt and Bosch families. Classes for grades one through eight were held in it until 1957. At one time, a single teacher taught from twenty-five to forty students by holding one ten-minute session per subject for each of the eight grades. The original school district covered approximately four square miles, and many children walked more than two miles to and from school daily. Nearly two decades after the school closed, planning began for restoring it as a living museum for area school children. By 1979 the classroom resembled its 1891 appearance, featuring gas lights, a wood stove, an octagonal clock, a hanging globe, lunch pails and desk.
Moe School - Bowen's Mills, Middleville
The Moe School is the oldest one room school house in Barry County. It was built in the 1850s and was located on the corner of Parmelee Road and Moe Road near Middleville Michigan. In later years, it was a meeting place for ladies groups. In the 1980s, it was sitting dormant. It had not been used in quite some time and was deteriorating rapidly.
The school house was brought to the attention of Carleen and Owen Sabin, owners of Historic Bowen's Mills in Middleville, by Hazel McCall, a woman who had been a teacher in the school when she was young. After doing research it was discovered that the school could be bought for $1 if it was moved from the site. Hazel McCall purchased the school for the historical park.
Soon the restoration project began on the school at sight where the was located. Many things needed to be done before it would be ready to move. The sills were replaced under the school by tunneling down and crawling in under the school to do the work. This process took much time and was tedious. After the sills were replaced the preparation began to get the school ready for 10 mile journey to the mill property. Many volunteers laid a hand and a lowboy was rented. Rollers were used to roll the school on to the trailer. Once on the road the cheers began and so did the long haul. The one room school moved slowly down the road toward the new stone foundations waiting at its final resting place in the historical park. There was much work to be done, the school was in rough shape and in need of many repairs. Siding needed to be replaced and a new bell free had to be made. Inside layers old walls were removed, to take it back to the original wood.
After much labor and lots of paint the school house took on the near new look of years gone by. There was much celebration and many turned out for the dedication service, which took place during an Old Fashioned Day Festival. Many children and former students have come to spend time in the old school over the years since it's completion. The building is open for classes, meetings and even dinners. (http://www.bowensmills.com/)
Star School - Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids
The Star School was built in 1853 at the corner of 8th Avenue and Lincoln Street in Ottawa County, which is now part of the Kenowa School system. In 1919-20, Dora Terpstra Potts was the teacher at The Star School, where she had 30 students in grades one through eight. Besides lacking indoor plumbing, the schoohouse didn't have electricity in 1919 and heat came from a pot belly stove. Star was Potts' second teaching job. Her first was at Van Westenberg School in Allendale Township, where she was paid $40 a month and boarded with a local family for $4 a week. On weekends, she traveled home to her parent's farm in Tallmadge Township. In 1953, the school celebrated its centennial, with more than 500 former students coming from all over the United States. Classes were held there until 1964.
In 1972, the one-room schoolhouse was donated to the Public Museum of Grand Rapids by Cecil Doyle and moved to the Blandford Nature Center. Funds for the renovation were donated by Dorothy Cassada and Dr. and Mrs. Jacob VanLoo. Renovations included a new roof, new paint, plaster and glass. The hardwood floor is the latest of two sub-floors and two top floors. The bell, donated by Walter Gutowski, came from the beech Grove School, which was also in the Kenowa System. Margaret Jaeger donated the clock, which was used in the old East Leonard School. When the school was set up at Blandford, it was at a 180 degree difference. At its original site, the school faced north. Today, it's set up with the entrance facing south. (http://www.grmuseum.org/)
Fallasburg School - Fallasburg Historical Village, Lowell
Constructed in 1867, the one-room schoolhouse is a gable-front building of frame construction covered with clapboard siding. The simple facade contains two entrances with transom windows above to allow light into the cloakrooms. A belfry, with louvered square-head opening in each face and a pyramid roof, is situated on the peak of the roof over the front entrances. The standing seam metal roof has overhanging eaves and simple raking cornices. Four, six-over-six windows are located on both sides of the school. The schoolroom interior is finished with boarded walls and ceilings. The fieldstone foundation was extended in front of the building to form a raised platform. A small rear coal and woodshed addition was made to the rear of the school after the turn of the century. The foundation of this addition is of poured concrete and the ceiling was constructed of recycled wood.
In 1840, John Wesley Fallas settled the village named for him when he constructed a grist mill on the Flat River. In the spring of 1867, Fallas Donated land for the construction of a village schoolhouse. The 1870 "History and Directory of Kent County" confirmed the school's completion in the summer of 1867.
The school building remained in use as a day school, church, Sunday school, and revival center until 1979. Since 1981, it has been converted for museum use to house local Lowell area artifacts. The Fallasburg School has historical significance as one of the oldest schoolhouse buildings in the Lowell area.
Maple Grove School - Peninsula Cellars, Old Mission Peninsula
Built around 1896, the Maple Grove School retains its original windows, floor, slate boards and bell. The school was used until the early 1960s, when the schools consolidated with the Traverse City Public School system. Senator George McManus was a student there. The building sat vacant for a few years until it was purchased by a local artists who used it as a studio. In the 1990s, a family bought the old school to renovate into a private home. This happened to the other seven schools on Old Mission too. Their plans fell through and in 1998, the schoolhouse was purchased by Bryan and Emily Ulbrich and turned into the tasting room for Peninsula Cellars. They did very little in terms of renovation. They exposed the original maple floors, painted the interior and exterior, installed a new roof and built the tasting bar and bathrooms. (http://www.peninsulacellars.com/)
Hilton Schoolhouse - Bier Art Gallery, Charlevoix
By 1913, Norwood was already a thriving community. Fueled by the logging industry the village of Norwood had an extensive dock installed where freighters would stop to "wood up." Sawmills ran around the clock and the village grew. By the early 1900s, Norwood boasted mills, boarding houses, a store, and hotel named the "Eagle House."
The first postmaster, William Harris established the post office in 1867 and remained busy for years to come within the same time period Orwin Adams platted the village of Norwood. The growth surrounding the logging industry continued at a robust pace and as the communities grew churches and cemeteries were built. Norwood even had a barbershop where the hard working men would often gather to solve the world's problems. The village was moving at such a rapid pace they even had a village band complete with a bandstand of sorts. Actually, it was a windmill built by the Ferguson family. It housed a well and supplied water for the family home. The landing near the top of the windmill was where the band would set up and perform weekly concerts during the summer months. The concerns of the day were not that different than they are today.
Schooling the children of the community was an issue of priority and the boom of building schoolhouses was well under way throughout our country as well in our little corner of the planet. Since the children mostly walked to school the buildings spotted the landscape every few miles which is why there are so many of these lovely old structures around today. Many were turned into homes, some turned into antique stores and shops.
It seemed like a logical thing for Tami and Ray Bier to transform the Hilton schoolhouse into an Art Gallery. The old building continues to bring smiles to those who enter through its doors today in much the same way the sense of the joy of discovery and learning did so long ago for another generation at another time. (http://www.bierartgallery.com/)
Greenfield Village in Dearborn features three one-room schoolhouses among it collection of historic buildings and structures.
Henry Ford attended classes at Miller School in Springwells Township, Michigan in 1873-74. The building, a replica of the original, is used for the "One Room School" program. Visiting students and teachers spend the day experiencing the lessons and school yard games found in one room schools during the 1870s.
William Holmes McGuffey was the author of the McGuffey Readers, a series of textbooks used by millions of American youth during the mid-1800s. The McGuffey Schoolhouse was constructed in Greenfield Village of logs from a barn located on the Pennsylvania farm where McGuffey was born in 1800. The building is also used for the "One Room School" program. Visiting students and their teachers spend the day recreating a one-room school experience of the 1840s.
During the 19th century, the morning school bell summoned millions of American children to schools like the Scotch Settlement School. This one-room schoolhouse was built in 1861 in an area of southeastern Michigan once known as the Scotch Settlement. Henry Ford attended school here in the early 1870s. (http://www.hfmgv.org/)
http://www.wmta.org/one-room-school-houses-197/
In the early 1900s, there were about 7,000 one-room schoolhouses in Michigan. There are fewer than 2,000 now, but only 20 still serve as functioning schoolhouses, according to the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse
Lee School - Charlton Park, Hastings
The Lee School, originally located two miles west of Woodland, on the northeast corner of M-43 and Martin Road in Barry County, was constructed in 1869 on land previously owned by William Lee. There was a belfry added to the building in about 1900, but had to be removed several years before the building was moved to historic Charlton Park in Hastings. The present belfry's one that was constructed on the Bird School during the same period. The Lee School was closed after the 1992-23 school year, due to the consolidation of the Woodland Schools. The building was used for grain storage until it was moved to Charlton Park in 1973.
The present Dibble School at Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson was built in 1885 for approximately $650 and was the third school building to stand at the corner of Kibby and Robinson Roads in Summit Township. It was moved in 1967 to the museum grounds and is now restored to the 1900 appearance. The date of the first schoolhouse, built of logs, is lost. The date of the second school, built of stone, is 1868. The Dibble School, Summit Township District No. 2, was an autonomous district until 1957, the year of its consolidation with the Union School District in Jackson.
Portage No. 8 School - Celery Flats
In 1856, Harvey and Rirza Booth donated land to construct a schoolhouse in Section 32 in the southwest corner of the township of Portage. The building, then known as the Prairie Edge School, was constructed in 1859. The District No. 8 school served the educational needs of rural Portage elementary school children until 1947, when the consolidation of the school district forced it to close. The city of Portage purchased the former school building and moved it to the Celery Flats interpretive historical park complex in 1990. Portage District No. 8 School is a one-story gable-roofed, white -painted frame Greek Revival building resting on a fieldstone foundation
Jewitt Schoolhouse - Allegan County Historical Village, Allegan
In The History of Allegan County of 1907, Jewitt School is referred to as Brownell School, apparently named after the owner of the land in the neighborhood of the school. Later, George Jewitt owned the farm the school was located on, buying it in 1853. Jewitt, who came to Michigan from Lincoln County, Maine in 1848 at the age of 19 or 20, helped construct a sawmill on the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck and worked there until he could afford the 320 acres. Having worked as a lumberman since the age of 16, he cleared 90 acres of the densely forested land within 8 months. His wife, a Miss Constance Bingham, whom he married 2 years after buying the land, was a teacher before they were married. One of Jewitt's sons, also named George, later owned the land the school was built on. In 1918, the two fifths of an acre which contained the school, was sold to School District No. 5 for $112.50. In 1971, the Jewitt School building was moved to the Allegan County Fairgrounds to be a part of the Pioneer Village. Originally, the Millgrove school building was considered, but the structure wasn't up to travel. However, Jewitt School had its bell tower removed at some point, so the bell tower from the Millgrove School is the one that sits on top of Jewitt
DeWitt School - Spring Lake
Built in 1891, DeWitt School typifies the one-room schools of the turn of the century. It stands on an acre of land that was donated by the DeWitt and Bosch families. Classes for grades one through eight were held in it until 1957. At one time, a single teacher taught from twenty-five to forty students by holding one ten-minute session per subject for each of the eight grades. The original school district covered approximately four square miles, and many children walked more than two miles to and from school daily. Nearly two decades after the school closed, planning began for restoring it as a living museum for area school children. By 1979 the classroom resembled its 1891 appearance, featuring gas lights, a wood stove, an octagonal clock, a hanging globe, lunch pails and desk.
Moe School - Bowen's Mills, Middleville
The Moe School is the oldest one room school house in Barry County. It was built in the 1850s and was located on the corner of Parmelee Road and Moe Road near Middleville Michigan. In later years, it was a meeting place for ladies groups. In the 1980s, it was sitting dormant. It had not been used in quite some time and was deteriorating rapidly.
The school house was brought to the attention of Carleen and Owen Sabin, owners of Historic Bowen's Mills in Middleville, by Hazel McCall, a woman who had been a teacher in the school when she was young. After doing research it was discovered that the school could be bought for $1 if it was moved from the site. Hazel McCall purchased the school for the historical park.
Soon the restoration project began on the school at sight where the was located. Many things needed to be done before it would be ready to move. The sills were replaced under the school by tunneling down and crawling in under the school to do the work. This process took much time and was tedious. After the sills were replaced the preparation began to get the school ready for 10 mile journey to the mill property. Many volunteers laid a hand and a lowboy was rented. Rollers were used to roll the school on to the trailer. Once on the road the cheers began and so did the long haul. The one room school moved slowly down the road toward the new stone foundations waiting at its final resting place in the historical park. There was much work to be done, the school was in rough shape and in need of many repairs. Siding needed to be replaced and a new bell free had to be made. Inside layers old walls were removed, to take it back to the original wood.
After much labor and lots of paint the school house took on the near new look of years gone by. There was much celebration and many turned out for the dedication service, which took place during an Old Fashioned Day Festival. Many children and former students have come to spend time in the old school over the years since it's completion. The building is open for classes, meetings and even dinners. (http://www.bowensmills.com/)
Star School - Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids
The Star School was built in 1853 at the corner of 8th Avenue and Lincoln Street in Ottawa County, which is now part of the Kenowa School system. In 1919-20, Dora Terpstra Potts was the teacher at The Star School, where she had 30 students in grades one through eight. Besides lacking indoor plumbing, the schoohouse didn't have electricity in 1919 and heat came from a pot belly stove. Star was Potts' second teaching job. Her first was at Van Westenberg School in Allendale Township, where she was paid $40 a month and boarded with a local family for $4 a week. On weekends, she traveled home to her parent's farm in Tallmadge Township. In 1953, the school celebrated its centennial, with more than 500 former students coming from all over the United States. Classes were held there until 1964.
In 1972, the one-room schoolhouse was donated to the Public Museum of Grand Rapids by Cecil Doyle and moved to the Blandford Nature Center. Funds for the renovation were donated by Dorothy Cassada and Dr. and Mrs. Jacob VanLoo. Renovations included a new roof, new paint, plaster and glass. The hardwood floor is the latest of two sub-floors and two top floors. The bell, donated by Walter Gutowski, came from the beech Grove School, which was also in the Kenowa System. Margaret Jaeger donated the clock, which was used in the old East Leonard School. When the school was set up at Blandford, it was at a 180 degree difference. At its original site, the school faced north. Today, it's set up with the entrance facing south. (http://www.grmuseum.org/)
Fallasburg School - Fallasburg Historical Village, Lowell
Constructed in 1867, the one-room schoolhouse is a gable-front building of frame construction covered with clapboard siding. The simple facade contains two entrances with transom windows above to allow light into the cloakrooms. A belfry, with louvered square-head opening in each face and a pyramid roof, is situated on the peak of the roof over the front entrances. The standing seam metal roof has overhanging eaves and simple raking cornices. Four, six-over-six windows are located on both sides of the school. The schoolroom interior is finished with boarded walls and ceilings. The fieldstone foundation was extended in front of the building to form a raised platform. A small rear coal and woodshed addition was made to the rear of the school after the turn of the century. The foundation of this addition is of poured concrete and the ceiling was constructed of recycled wood.
In 1840, John Wesley Fallas settled the village named for him when he constructed a grist mill on the Flat River. In the spring of 1867, Fallas Donated land for the construction of a village schoolhouse. The 1870 "History and Directory of Kent County" confirmed the school's completion in the summer of 1867.
The school building remained in use as a day school, church, Sunday school, and revival center until 1979. Since 1981, it has been converted for museum use to house local Lowell area artifacts. The Fallasburg School has historical significance as one of the oldest schoolhouse buildings in the Lowell area.
Maple Grove School - Peninsula Cellars, Old Mission Peninsula
Built around 1896, the Maple Grove School retains its original windows, floor, slate boards and bell. The school was used until the early 1960s, when the schools consolidated with the Traverse City Public School system. Senator George McManus was a student there. The building sat vacant for a few years until it was purchased by a local artists who used it as a studio. In the 1990s, a family bought the old school to renovate into a private home. This happened to the other seven schools on Old Mission too. Their plans fell through and in 1998, the schoolhouse was purchased by Bryan and Emily Ulbrich and turned into the tasting room for Peninsula Cellars. They did very little in terms of renovation. They exposed the original maple floors, painted the interior and exterior, installed a new roof and built the tasting bar and bathrooms. (http://www.peninsulacellars.com/)
Hilton Schoolhouse - Bier Art Gallery, Charlevoix
By 1913, Norwood was already a thriving community. Fueled by the logging industry the village of Norwood had an extensive dock installed where freighters would stop to "wood up." Sawmills ran around the clock and the village grew. By the early 1900s, Norwood boasted mills, boarding houses, a store, and hotel named the "Eagle House."
The first postmaster, William Harris established the post office in 1867 and remained busy for years to come within the same time period Orwin Adams platted the village of Norwood. The growth surrounding the logging industry continued at a robust pace and as the communities grew churches and cemeteries were built. Norwood even had a barbershop where the hard working men would often gather to solve the world's problems. The village was moving at such a rapid pace they even had a village band complete with a bandstand of sorts. Actually, it was a windmill built by the Ferguson family. It housed a well and supplied water for the family home. The landing near the top of the windmill was where the band would set up and perform weekly concerts during the summer months. The concerns of the day were not that different than they are today.
Schooling the children of the community was an issue of priority and the boom of building schoolhouses was well under way throughout our country as well in our little corner of the planet. Since the children mostly walked to school the buildings spotted the landscape every few miles which is why there are so many of these lovely old structures around today. Many were turned into homes, some turned into antique stores and shops.
It seemed like a logical thing for Tami and Ray Bier to transform the Hilton schoolhouse into an Art Gallery. The old building continues to bring smiles to those who enter through its doors today in much the same way the sense of the joy of discovery and learning did so long ago for another generation at another time. (http://www.bierartgallery.com/)
Greenfield Village in Dearborn features three one-room schoolhouses among it collection of historic buildings and structures.
Henry Ford attended classes at Miller School in Springwells Township, Michigan in 1873-74. The building, a replica of the original, is used for the "One Room School" program. Visiting students and teachers spend the day experiencing the lessons and school yard games found in one room schools during the 1870s.
William Holmes McGuffey was the author of the McGuffey Readers, a series of textbooks used by millions of American youth during the mid-1800s. The McGuffey Schoolhouse was constructed in Greenfield Village of logs from a barn located on the Pennsylvania farm where McGuffey was born in 1800. The building is also used for the "One Room School" program. Visiting students and their teachers spend the day recreating a one-room school experience of the 1840s.
During the 19th century, the morning school bell summoned millions of American children to schools like the Scotch Settlement School. This one-room schoolhouse was built in 1861 in an area of southeastern Michigan once known as the Scotch Settlement. Henry Ford attended school here in the early 1870s. (http://www.hfmgv.org/)
http://www.wmta.org/one-room-school-houses-197/
