Frenchman’s Knob School, Frenchman’s Knob Land Preserve, Bonnieville, KY

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Frenchman’s Knob School

Frenchman’s Knob Land Preserve

Frenchman’s Knob Road.

Bonnieville, KY

According to files located at the Hart County Historical Society, a school was established at Frenchman’s Knob in 1860. According to one hand-written account, Hannah Matilda Lang Bolton (1803-1880) donated the land for the school. According to a document about the Lang-Bolton family, she deeded several acres of land for with a “good spring of drinking water” for use for a school, church, and cemetery plot “to the public forever.”  Another source from the Historical Society files notes that Henry Moneypenny donated the land for the school.  Moneypenny is buried in the nearby cemetery. Several Bolton women married into the Moneypeny family, perhaps contributing to the conflicting accounts of who donated the land for the school.

     The first school, destroyed by fire sometime in the years 1880-1900, is described in the handwritten narrative of Henry C. Amos as “built of logs.” The seats were split logs, finished to function almost like benches, with one side hewn smooth, and peg fastened to the other side to “give height to sit on.”  Amos continues to describe the interior of the school with pegs driven in the wall to support a sort of blackboard for the students. According to another source in the Hart County Historical Society files, this log building was replaced by another structure “near the graveyard and near the current building.”  This could be interpreted to mean a second structure was built, and then replaced by the third, and final building. This handwritten narrative notes that the current building dates to 1912. The last year of school in the building was 1949-1950.

     The Frenchman’s Knob School is a one-story, frame, front gable school built on stone piers. The school is a transitionally framed structure, with corner posts and down angle braces, but aslo with the thin studs associated with balloon framing. The gable entrance has two door openings, but the doors have been removed. Each side elevation of the school was punctuated by four windows, which were likely two-over-two double-hung sash windows, though no sash now remains. Natural light was a must in the days before rural electrification.

     There are no openings on the rear gable wall, which has suffered the most through neglect and the ravages of the weather. The interior window surround features bull’s-eye corner blocks, while the simply fluted door surrounds have flinth blocks at the bottom. A raised platform is located at the far end of the room, against the back gable wall. The platform extends out a little less than four feet from the wall and runs the length of the wall, standing about nine inches high. A blackboard was located on the back wall, and the teacher’s desk would presumably have been on the platform.

Walton’s Mountain [Rockfish, VA] Church and School, The Waltons Television Show

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Walton’s Mountain School

Jefferson Co.

Rockfish, Virginia

The Waltons was an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book Spencer’s Mountain and the 1963 film of the same name. The series aired from 1972 to 1981.  Walton’s Mountain School, which was attended by the children of Walton’s Mountain, was in fact a church that is located on one side of the set. The church actually played the church at the end of Season #1 in The Easter Story when Olivia was stricken with Polio (but we’re not supposed to notice that fact.)   This was the church/school that was also used in two of the Walton movies that were in the nineties.

     The television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story was broadcast on December 19, 1971. Based on its success, the CBS television network ordered the first season of episodes (to be based on the same characters) and that became the television series The Waltons. Beginning in September 1972, the series aired on CBS for nine seasons in total. After the series was canceled in 1981, three television film sequels aired in 1982 on NBC, with three more in the 1990s on CBS. The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication.

     The show’s end sequence featured the family saying goodnight to one another before drifting off to sleep, and according to the BBC (which also aired the series) “Goodnight, John-Boy” was one of the most common catchphrases of the 1970s.  The village of Rockfish was the nearest town to where the Walton family lived and they often went there for things they couldn’t get at Ike Godsey’s. Sadly, the real Rockfish is all but deserted now, and yet the Rockfish River still runs along beneath the railroad tracks.

Walnut Grove School, Caneyville, KY

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Walnut Grove School

Walnut Grove Rd. West

Caneyville, Kentucky

The Walnut Grove School, on Walnut Grove Rd. near Caneyville, Kentucky, probably started in the late 1860s. In the last half of the 1800s, Walnut Grove, located on the Caneyville-Spring Lick Road, was a close-knit community. For many years the school was the social center of the thriving community. Spelling bees, pie suppers, picnics, box suppers, and “sings” were held there. Several church denominations held their services in the school house. The school had an enrolment of about sixty students. Over half of them were Carrolls. At this time Joseph Carroll (1809-1891) owned most of the land in the area. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Grayson County School Board embarked on an ambitious school building campaign across the west-central Kentucky county. Around 100 one-room schools were ultimately constructed, serving schoolchildren in scattered, small, rural communities. One of the survivors is the wood frame, one-room, one-story, 30-foot long, 24.5 feet wide Walnut Grove School, built in 1911.

     J.C. Bratcher bought some of this land from Dempsey Carroll. In 1917, Mr. Bratcher conveyed a tract of land to the Grayson County Board of Education. In 1933, H.C.Newton conveyed a tract of land with the schoolhouse on it to the Board of Education. The Walnut Grove School was closed in 1957 when consolidation began in Grayson County, and students attended school in Caneyville, about two miles away. The last teacher there had only seven students.  The school properties were sold to Elvie and Mabel Payton in 1959. Mabel sold it in 1964 to the Zacher and Eudokia Dutcdak family from The Ukraine. In 1973, it was bought by Father Howad French and his two sisters, Ada Mae and Dorothy. The parents of the French children were Ora Stinson and Warren Augustin French, who had met at the old Walnut Grove schoolhouse during a “sing.”  Ora Stinson had also taught at the school. The French children have restored and refurnished the old school building and have dedicated it to the memory of their mother.

     Raised above the ground about two feet on stone piers, the façade of the Walnut Grove School has two doors – one for boys, and one for girls.  A potbellied stove located near the center of the school provided heat. Iron frame desks clustered near the stove. The floor was made from locally grown pine, and the floor, walls, and ceiling were clad in tongue-and-groove-boards.  This 1911 school is the third school to occupy the site. The first school in Walnut Grove, built around 1860, was a log building that held about 60 students. It was replaced by a frame building in 1875. The succession of buildings all fulfilled a vital role: school, church, and community center.  The one-room schools of Kentucky – and there were many – were obsolete by the mid-20th century.  The Walnut Grove School fared better than most. A series of thoughtful owners over 20 years preserved the school until it was donated to the Grayson County Historical Society in 1979. In 1987, the Historical Society worked with the Kentucky Heritage Council to list the school in the National Register of Historic Places. At the time the school was listed, the Historical Society used the building as a museum.

Hoff School District No. 42, Kirwin, KS

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Hoff School District No. 42

E. Union Rd. and E. 1300 Rd.

Kirwin, Kansas

The Hoff School District No. 42, northeast of Kirwin in Phillips County, Kansas, is a one-room schoolhouse built in 1899. Located near the intersection of E. Union Rd. and E. 1300 Rd., it is 4.8 miles by road from what is now the small city of Kirwin, Kansas, and 15.7 miles from Phillipsburg, the county seat.  It was built by carpenter Fred M. Agard with assistance of a Mr. Freeman.  Like many one-room schools, it features a front-entry addition and a front-facing gable roof with three double-hung windows on each of the north and south sides. A wood-frame structure, it was built to serve what was then rural Kirwin Township, one of 25 townships within the county, at approximately the peak of population in the county (14,442 in 1900; 4,981 in 2020).  The building served area students until consolidation closed it in 1946. It was listed with the National Register of Historic Places on January 18, 2011.  The building was nominated as part of the “Historic Public Schools of Kansas” multiple property listing for its association with local education and its architecture.  Its listing is consistent with historic integrity standards for one-room schoolhouses in Kansas that were established in a 2005 study.

Historic Nolensville School Museum, Nolensville, TN

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Historic Nolensville School Museum

7248 Nolensville Road

Nolensville, Tennessee

     The Historic Nolensville School is a former public school in Nolensville, Tennessee, that had for many years served as the community’s recreation center (the Nolensville Recreation Center).  The school was built in 1937 using a Rosenwald School plan. A gymnasium was added in 1948. It was the “first modern educational building” in Nolensville and is unusual as the only school for whites in Tennessee that was built to a Rosenwald School plan. African American students did not attend the school until it was integrated in 1966.

     The building became a community recreation center in 1972 after a new school was built to replace it. In 2009, after the town of Nolensville announced plans to demolish the nearly 80-year-old four-room school house and convert the more recent 1972 school into a new recreation center, the Nolensville Historical Society began a campaign to preserve the old Nolensville School for use as a community center and museum. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 2012.

     Visitors to the Historic Nolensville School Museum will find the “Historic Classroom,” the “1937 kitchen,” “Grady Bob’s Work Shop,” the “4-H History Room,” the “Nolensville Sports Hall of Fame,” an exhibit of Girl Scout and Boy Scout memorabilia, a Reference Room, and various Rotating Exhibits. The Historic School Museum is open each Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 AM to noon and other days and times by appointment.  The school’s cafeteria and gym are open for community events.

     In the classroom exhibit of the museum, an eighth-grade graduation dress hangs in the back of the class, above a floor still stained from blobs of ink spills.  Thirteen small desks face toward the teacher’s desk. Carvings from a student still remain on one desk. Behind the teacher’s desk is a large poster of George Washington and the blackboard.

Former Merriam School (Irene B. French Community Center), Merriam, KS

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Former Merriam School

Irene B. French Community Center

5701 Merriam Dr.

Merriam, Kansas 66203

Education in Merriam, Johnson County, Kansas, began when from 1837 to 1869 the Quaker Mission educated the children from area Indian settlements. The early settlers of what was then called Campbellton sent their children to the Hickory Grove School, which was located near present day Shawnee Mission North High School.  As the population grew, the need for a local school was widely felt. For a short time, school was held in various buildings. In 1871, school was held for one term in a building called The Gin Mill across the street from the town’s hotel.

     School District Number 79, known as Merriam School District, was formed, and a new building was constructed and opened in 1872. The two-story yellow brick structure was a sophisticated model of an old time schoolhouse and included a bell tower and bell. The first school teacher, Ike Short, taught all eight grades for fifty dollars per month. The building was used for classes and as a community center until 1911.  After the trolley line was built and the local population swelled, a larger building was badly needed. In 1911, the first unit of a new building for the Merriam School was constructed of native limestone. The building was two stories high and housed both a grade school and small high school.

     In 1922, all the grade schools in the area consolidated and fed into the newly established Shawnee Mission Rural High School District. High school students then attended the new high school on Johnson Drive.  Both the original Merriam School built in 1872, and the second Merriam School built in 1911 are still in use today. The second Merriam School is now the Irene B. French Community Center, owned by the City of Merriam and named for the former mayor who was instrumental in its preservation and renovation. It is located at 5701 Merriam Drive.

Old Merriam School, Merriam, KS

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Old Merriam School

5820 Merriam Drive

Merriam, Kansas

The first school building in Merriam, KS, was two-story, red brick building located at 5820 Merriam Drive and erected in 1872. Before then, students were taught in an old gin mill, which was rented for 8 months at $54. The new school building was heated with wood until 1880 when coal began being used. L.M Short was the first school teacher, and he accepted the job for $250 a year – a good salary at the time. The main level served as a large classroom for kindergarten through the eighth grade. The second level was used for community meeting space. The building also served as a church and Sunday school facility, and in 1907, funds were raised for the bell. This building was used as a school until 1911 when a new school was erected off-site.     

After 1911, an addition was added to the east with chevrons in brick bulkheads, likely around 1920, and the building served as a Chevy dealer. An auto repair shop came next. In the 1930s, the Gas Service Company was based here, and in the 1950s, Gribble Music Company used the space. By the 1980s, Robert Pittman Moving and Storage was the occupant. Currently, the building appears well maintained, and another car dealership has moved in to help spur development in this older area of Merriam. The main block of the building is a parred-down version of Italianate with some neoclassical influences. The early 20th century east addition is a one-part commercial style building also with some neoclassical influences.  Merriam School, built in 1872, is the oldest building still standing in Merriam today.

Kaleva Elementary School (Maple Grove Township Community Center), Kaleva, MI

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Kaleva Elementary School

Maple Grove Township Community Center

9208 Kauko St.

Kaleva, MI

It’s been over a decade since the last students stepped foot in Kaleva Elementary School in Kaleva, MI, and since then the building has sat largely vacant and gone unused. All that is starting to change, however, now that the property, located at 9208 Kauko St. in Kaleva, has changed hands.  The school was recently purchased by Maple Grove Township for $100,000 with $50,000 coming from an anonymous private donor, to turn the vacant school into a new local hub, called the Maple Grove Township Community Center.

    From its openingz until 2009, students in grades K-6 attended the local school. In 2009 when the school closed due to lower enrollment, the students were transferred to Brethren, forming a K-12 central campus.  Kaleva Elementary was closed along with several other local schools in a region-wide consolidation in 2009. Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools officials made the decision to close the buildings due to shrinking enrollment and a lack of funds.  KND schools maintained the building for many years in hopes that a local organization would be able to utilize the space.  Utilizing the school for the Kaleva community has long been a goal of residents and local officials.

     The school first opened in the early 1960s when the former K-12 Kaleva Rural Agricultural School building was condemned, coinciding with the consolidation of the district with Norman Dickson, thus creating Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools, and had additions in the 1990s and early 2000s. Because Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools owed a bond on the property, it was necessary to purchase the building at fair market value. It has been estimated that the community would finish paying off bonds used for the latest expansion in around a decade. The school has taken out what they wanted and finished their business here, so it is now the property of the Maple Grove Township community. The community center committee has partnered with the township to reopen the building for public use.

     The 20,000 square foot facility has reopened on a limited basis as a warm place for walking, but volunteer committee members are preparing its ample space for a myriad of other purposes.  The gymnasium at the former Kaleva Elementary will serve as an exercise area at the new Maple Grove Township Community Center. Committee members hope the former school can also be used for its original purpose of education. Tricia Boucha, an artist and instructor living in Kaleva, is looking to provide art and cooking courses in one of the classrooms.

     With the community center opening, several individuals and organizations have expressed interest in moving their operations to the new central location in Kaleva.  These include the government offices for Maple Grove Township and the Village of Kaleva, which have adjoining space set aside at the community center. The space in the new building is much better suited for voting and public meetings. Bethany Lutheran Church in Kaleva is also moving its food pantry to the community center. One of the center’s most important functions is as an emergency relief shelter to serve the region during a potential disaster.

McBride Colored School–Rosenwald Community Center, South Mills, NC

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McBride Colored School

Rosenwald Community Center

1332 NC Highway 343

South Mills, NC 27976

The McBride Colored School opened in 1926 at where today is N.C. Highway 343 and Bunker Hill Road in South Mills, Camden County, NC. The Rosenwald Community Center now occupies the same property. In June 2019, residents attended the unveiling of a roadside historic marker honoring the location where African-American students attended school during segregation.  McBride Colored School was made possible by a project funded by Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck and Company. Rosenwald provided matching grants to rural communities seeking to build schools to educate Black children during segregation.

    More than 5,300 Rosenwald schools were built across 15 states in the South, with North Carolina having the highest concentration with more than 800. The schools’ program was the original idea of Black educator Booker T. Washington and his colleagues at the Tuskegee Institute.  The matching grants allowed for construction of modern school houses, complete with textbooks, chairs, desks, blackboards and even included funds for teacher salaries.  Rosenwald’s estimated overall investment in the Rosenwald schools program, adjusted for inflation, would amount to more than $750 million today, according to an essay from 1999 in The Journal for Blacks in Higher Education.

      The McBride Colored School had four classrooms, an auditorium, an office, and a kitchen. The school stayed in operation until closing in 1961. Over the years, the school fell into disrepair and was torn down in 1996. Local leaders worked simultaneously to secure funding and built the Rosenwald Community Center in its place. The marker commemorates the work and vision of those early educators and leaders.

Windsor Elementary School, Cincinnati, OH

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Windsor Elementary School

937 Windsor St.

Cincinnati, OH 45206

Windsor School is a former school located at 937 Windsor Street in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Windsor School was designed by Henry E. Siter and constructed in 1888.  An addition housing a gymnasium was built on to it in 1918. As early as 1971, Windsor was on the list of schools that should be replaced or closed due to inadequate wiring, faulty pipes, crowded conditions, and poor restrooms.  Only eight toilets served 380 children and 27 teachers.  After years of decline, the school closed in June 2004 as part of the Cincinnati Public School district’s $1 billion, ten-year planned construction project to rehabilitate or rebuild nearly every facility within the city.  Because of declining enrollment, the school merged with Douglass School before relocating completely to a new $10.8 million complex on Kemper Road that opened in 2006.  Windsor was officially closed in 2007.

     The Windsor School building was auctioned in July 2009 and was sold to the John J. Schiff III Foundation who acquired the complex for $225,000. It had proposed rehabilitating the building complex for art glass studios and workshops for its Neusole Glassworks gallery and offices.. That did not happen due to financing difficulties and the school remained vacant, but has found new life in recent years as a haunted tour attraction.  In 2014, the city decided to add the ‘haunted’ school to the list of historical landmarks in an effort to preserve it.  Traffic around the closed Windsor Elementary School has picked up in the last few years due to paranormal tours, and potential developers have been looking to turn this once haunted school house into apartments.