Woodbourne Schoolhouse No. 9, Centerville, OH

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Woodbourne Schoolhouse No. 9

5683 Mad River Road

Centerville, OH

Schoolhouse No. 9, or Woodbourne School, is still in use as a brick residence at 5683 Mad River Road in Centerville, OH.  It is the third building used in district No. 9. There were two earlier schools in the area, one on Munger Road at the township line, and one on W. Rahn Road.  This school served children as far north as Stroop Road. Consequently, it was necessary each year to appeal to the Van Buren school board for their proportionate share of the costs.  Mrs. Mary Gerhard Creamer was the last teacher to provide instruction to some 30 children in the eight grades during the last five years that No. 9 served as a school.

     The school measured 30 by 40 feet, had three windows located on either side and a door in the center on the east side, facing Mad River Road.  The floor was yellow pine.  A blackboard ran across the west end, and there was shelving from the corners to the windows.  A built-in platform stood at the front of the room providing an elevated position for the teacher’s desk, and also served as a stage for plays and skits.  A small pump organ near the platform provided the accompaniment for singing.  A recitation bench for spelling bees and other lessons sat in front of the rows of student desks. The desks came in three sizes to accommodate the various ages and sizes of the children and stretched in long rows to the rear of the building, bending around a black coal stove in the middle of the room. Coal for the stove was stored outside in a small shelter and it was the duty of one of the older boys each week to carry coal inside and to feed the stove.  Lighting on cloudy days was furnished by kerosene lamps. There was no inside plumbing. Two small outbuildings were provided at the rear of the school, and there was a hand pump outside for a source of good water.

     Celia Landis bought the school in 1924 for $890.  In the 1940s, the Bohachek family bought the schoolhouse and turned it into living quarters.  They added the front gable and the bedroom wing, turned the stables into a guesthouse, the caretaker’s house into a summerhouse, and built a swimming pool.  In 1983, the Steinbrunners bought the house and were married there.  They gutted the kitchen and both bathrooms. Walls were removed; plywood covering the original wainscoting and chalk rails was removed. The guesthouse and the summer house were restored. The pool has been covered with a large deck. The old pond has been lined and adorned with a waterfall.

Central School, Enon, OH

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Central School

4865 Rebert Pike

Enon, OH

Thanks to the historical archives preserved by the Enon Community Historical Society, it is now known what the name for the old one-room brick school at 4865 Rebert Pike in Mad River Township, Clark County, OH, was.  It was called Central School, because it was located in the center of Mad River Township. According to records this was the third school built in the township.  The first Central School was made of logs. In about 1900, a newer brick building, the one that is seen now, was erected. It wasn’t used too many years before the rising population of the area led to a merger of all the small schools into one township-wide district, Mad River Twp.  According to the History of Clark County from W.H. Beers and Company, this building was also used as a polling place and for township meetings because it was centrally located.

St. Bernard School, New Washington, OH

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St. Bernard School

320 W Mansfield St.

New Washington, OH 44854

The St. Bernard School was formed in New Washington, OH, by parishioners of St. Bernard Catholic Church.  The parish was formed by immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine, a territory between France and Germany that was captured and recaptured many times by each of the larger nations throughout history.  The school was in a smaller building in the mid-1800s. For the parish’s first 20 years, children learned in a small room attached to the original church building in downtown New Washington.  They sold their property downtown and bought their current property.  The new church — still very near downtown — was built in 1866. Students were taught in an old log cabin that was on the property when parishioners moved.

     The old cabin was eventually torn down, but out back remained two outhouses: one for boys and one for girls.  By 1895, the church had raised enough money to build a four-room schoolhouse on land next to the church. They didn’t have indoor bathrooms until the 1930s. Those bathrooms were built below the rear of the original schoolhouse — children would walk down stairs to the restrooms, and sometimes to music class in a classroom behind the bathrooms. The next expansion came in 1966, when a new building was added with a breezeway that connected both portions of the school.  Since the school only went to the eighth grade, students would next attend Buckeye Central High School. The school’s student body had slowly been dwindling over the years, but not from families moving away or lack of church attendance.  Forty years ago, people were having five or six kids. Now it’s one or two. And that’s a big difference.  The school officially closed in 2021.

Glenwood School, Sub Dist. No. 9, Tipp City, OH

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Glenwood School, Sub Dist. No. 9

7025 E. St. Rt. 571

Tipp City, OH 45371

The Glenwood School, or Sub Dist. No. 9, was the last one room schoolhouse built in Bethel Township, Miami County Ohio.  It is near Tipp City, OH.  The 1878 one room schoolhouse is being renovated and repurposed into a home, keeping the look and feel of a time gone by.

Remodeled One-room School House, Renick, OH

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Remodeled One-room School House

Lunbeck Road

Renick, OH 45601

This may once have been a one-room schoolhouse. The bricks look old and the design is the same or similar to the old schoolhouses.  It sits along Lunbeck Road in Scioto Township, Ross County, Ohio, and probably was used as a school before the consolidated Unioto district was opened in 1935-36.

Chenault School, Saline Creek Pioneer Village and Museum, Harrisburg, IL

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Chenault School

Saline Creek Pioneer Village and Museum

1600 South Feazel St.

Harrisburg, Illinois 62946

The Saline Creek Pioneer Village and Museum, also known as the Saline County Area Museum, located at 1600 S. Feazel St.  on the south side of Harrisburg, IL, is a place to “see and touch memories,” represents a village depicting the era of 1800 – 1840, and includes the original Saline County Pauper Farm (now a three-story museum), an old jail, an 1859 one-room schoolhouse, the Cain Church, several 1800s log cabins, a barn, and country store.

     There is a sign on Hwy 13. The grounds were an original 175 acres when purchased in 1863 by the county for $1,402.50 to be used as a place for those who could not care for themselves. Over the years the Saline County Pauper Farm was sold with only 3½ acres remaining today. It is now leased to the Saline County Historical Society and is on the National Register of Historical Places.

     Around the grounds are scattered historic typical buildings, such as: The Chenault School built in 1919 to replace the original log cabin school built in 1859 and is typical of the one room schools in use as late as 1945.  It was donated in 1971 fully furnished with original desks, blackboards, and books and was moved from the original site located in Section 8 of Raleigh Township. Teachers are welcome to bring their classes here and hold class as it was then, great experience for the students.

District 8 Schoolhouse, Chillicothe, OH

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District 8 Schoolhouse

SR 104 North

Chillicothe, OH 45601

A one-room schoolhouse sits alongside SR 104 north of Chillicothe in Ross County, Ohio. The stone in the roof peak reads: “District No. 8. 1878 M.A. Throckmorton.” Little else is known about this building.

Mineral Springs School, Peebles, OH

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Mineral Springs School

Bluegill Rd. (T-131)

Peebles, OH 45660

Mineral Springs is an unincorporated community in Adams County, Ohio.  The community was named for a mineral spa near it. The medicinal value of springs was promoted by Charles Matheny in 1840. The first hotel was built 1864, and the resort was originally named Sodaville. A post office called Mineral Springs was established in 1868 and remained in operation until 1919.  Under the ownership of General Benjamin Coates (1888–91), Smith Grimes (1891–08), and J. W. Rogers (1908–20), the Mineral Springs community grew to include two hotels in the valley, cabins, a general store, post office, telegraph and phone lines in the hotel, large barns to accommodate the horses and carriages then later the automobiles, even an ice cream shop in the large hotel, a commodious amusement hall for the entertainment of those seeking diversion in recreation, and a beautiful chapel on the grounds for the church going guests.  In the later 1900s, a new, modern Mineral Springs Lake Resort and Campground was built on 573.7 acres of natural wonderland including a 104-acre mineral spring fed lake with 5-1/2 miles of pristine shoreline and 421 improved campsites within the 100-acre campground.  A preserved one-room schoolhouse is located in Mineral Springs.

Eber One Room Schoolhouse, Washington Court House, OH

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Eber One Room Schoolhouse

State Route 41 NW

Washington Court House, OH 43160.

Eber is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, in the state of Ohio.  A post office was established at Eber in 1892, and remained in operation until 1902. The community took its name from the local Mt. Eber Sunday School.  A one room schoolhouse is located near State Route 41 in Eber.

Red Bank one-room school, Westerville, OH

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Red Bank one-room school

Red Bank Road

Westerville, Ohio 43082

The Red Bank one-room school is located on Red Bank Road in Genoa Township, Delaware County, OH.  Earliest settlers made do by teaching children in a home, shed, or any building until schoolhouses were built. The first schools in the area were primitive subscription schools erected by volunteer labor. Logs cut 16-feet or 18-feet lengths were used for the construction. Broad boards composed the roof. Each had a fireplace and a clapboard door. If there was a window, it was probably greased paper to let in light. Students’ benches were fashioned from trees. A subscription of $1 to $3.50 per child was paid for a three-month period. Teachers boarded with the families. Readers consisted of The New Testament or Old English Reader. Grammar was rarely taught.

     In 1853, Ohio revised its education system by law forming a Township Board of Education for each township. These boards consisted of one representative of each sub-district school and the clerk of the township. This group was invested with the title, care, and custody of all school property. They appropriated the money among the sub-districts, determined what text books were to be used, fixed the boundaries of the districts and located school sites. They reported to the county auditor annually. City and incorporated villages acted as their own sub-district.

     Each sub-district (usually 6-10 per township) had a school, so children did not walk more than a mile or two to school. Each had a local board of directors who controlled the schools. They enumerated the children of school age, employed and dismissed teachers, made contracts for the building, and furnishings of the schools.   The state bill also eliminated the rate-bills and made education free to all youths in the state. Thus, one-room schools began to replace the primitive schools. Typically, these structures were 22-by-36 from outside to outside. Usually, they were brick with more than one window to provide light. Each had one door, a chimney (usually for stove) and generally a blackboard, as well as benches and tables or desks. Many of the original school buildings still remain today.