Duchouquet Township School #7 (Auglaize County), Wapakoneta, OH

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Duchouquet Township School #7/Auglaize County

Middle Pike and Brown Rd.

Wapakoneta, Ohio

The Duchouquet Township School #7/Auglaize County is an old former one-room schoolhouse near Wapakoneta, Ohio, located at the intersection of Middle Pike and Brown Rd.  Duchouquet Township is one of the fourteen townships of Auglaize County, Ohio and is located in the northern part of the county.  The 2020 census found 14,676 people in the township.  Most of Wapakoneta, the largest city and county seat of Auglaize County, is located in southwestern Duchouquet Township, and the village of Cridersville is located in the township’s northeast.  Duchouquet Township is the largest township in the county, containing forty-two whole sections, for a total area of 42.3 square miles. It is the largest township in the county, both in population and in area. The Auglaize River flows through the township.  Named for Francis Duchoquet, a French trapper who lived with local Shawnees, it is the only Duchouquet Township statewide.  Duchouquet Township was formed on March 4, 1833, while still part of Allen County. After the creation of Auglaize County in 1848, six square miles that had previously been a part of Shawnee Township in Allen County were attached to northern Duchouquet Township. The old school is apparently being used for farm storage.

Johnson School, Casnovia, MI

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Johnson School (1894-1946)

17460 Sherman Blvd.

Casnovia, MI

The Johnson School is located at 17460 Sherman Blvd., Casnovia, MI, in Section 35 of Casnovia Township, Muskegon County.  The school is on the north side of Sherman Blvd between Newaygo Road and Peters Road.  It was used as a school from 1894 to 1946 and is currently used as a museum.

Star City School, Star City, MI

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Star City School

Star City Road

Star City, MI

The old Star City One Room Schoolhouse is located on the east side of Star City Road (just north of Wagner Road) in Section 24, West Branch Township, Missaukee County, near Star City, MI.  To find it, one must take Highway 127 (Houghton Lake – Exit 194), go about 9 miles west on M-55 to Star City Road, and then turn north on Star City Road for about 3 miles. The school is privately owned and currently used for storage.

Frazeysburg School, Frazeysburg, OH

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Frazeysburg School

(Ohio Highway 16?)

Frazeysburg, OH

Frazeysburg, OH, is a village on Ohio Highway 16 north of Zanesville in Muskingum County, Ohio, along Wakatomika Creek. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.92 square miles, all land.  The population was 1,354 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Zanesville micropolitan area. Frazeysburg is home to the world’s largest apple basket, which is located on the Longaberger homestead.

     Frazeysburg was originally called Knoxville, and under the latter name was laid out in 1827. The town site was sold in 1828 to Samuel Frazey, and named for him. A post office called Frazeysburg has been in operation since 1837. The village was incorporated in 1868. There is a decaying old schoolhouse near Frazeysburg.

Mt. Pleasant School, Fallsburg, OH

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Mt. Pleasant School

Fallsbury Township

Fallsburg, OH

Fallsbury Township is one of the 25 townships of Licking County, Ohio.  As of the 2010 census the population was 981, up from 865 at the 2000 census. The historic one-room school known as Mt. Pleasant School, located in Fallsbury Township, in the southeast corner of Licking County in Ohio, was built in 1900 and would serve grades one through eight for nearly half a century before it was converted to use as a private residence. One teacher would educate all of the children in Fallsbury Township that would attend. At some point near the mid-1900s, use of this small schoolhouse was no longer necessary with the construction of other schools in the area to accommodate a growing population. The former schoolhouse was eventually rented out as a home until the mid-1970s, and was last occupied by Earl Camp and his daughter, Mildred Willey. Once they left, the building was left to sit, and started its slow decay and collapse into the earth.

     This schoolhouse finally collapsed under its own weight recently after sitting vacant since the mid-1970s. The building was well-known to many photographers as well as locals. For decades, the building continued to bend in the middle, appearing as if it would collapse at any moment. The structure held up surprisingly well; a testament to the construction at the time.  Many could not have imagined it lasting as long as it did.   The structure was abandoned right around the release of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, and right about the year that the band Boston released their debut studio album, if that helps put into perspective just how long this structure sat without maintenance.  The schoolhouse currently sits on the Varner property. Kenneth Varner was known well locally as not only a hard working farmer, but a World War II veteran who loved all types of music. Kenneth unfortunately passed away on November 13, 2021.  It is sad to see this old one room schoolhouse falling apart.

Maple Grove School, Standish, MI

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Maple Grove School (1889-1955)

2495 Conrad Road

Standish, MI 48658

The Maple Grove School, which was in active use from 1889 to 1955, located at the southeast corner of Hull Road and Conrad Road in Section 29 of Arenac Township in Arenac County, near Standish, MI.  It is currently being used as a church by the Gospel Light Baptist Church of Standish.

Moreland Township 8 Square One-Room Schoolhouse, Muncy, PA

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Moreland Township 8 Square One-Room Schoolhouse

Moreland Baptist Church Road

Muncy, PA 17756

The 8 Square School near Muncy, PA, on the original site of Lycoming County’s first public school, a eight-sided log structure built in 1796, is a fully restored one room frame schoolhouse maintained by the Muncy Historical Society.  The school is located on Moreland Baptist Church Road, approximately 5 miles east of Clarkstown on Route 442.Volunteers conduct tours and one-room school living history programs by appointment.  Recognizing the importance of education, American Revolution veteran George Smith donated a portion of his land so that the children of Moreland Township could come together to learn. First- through eighth-grade classes were taught in the one room frame school until 1958. In 1999 Loretta Raup donated the 8-Square to the Muncy Historical Society.

     Society and community volunteers donated over 10,000 hours to the school’s restoration and their efforts were rewarded when the project received the prestigious Community Service Award from Pennsylvania Preservation.  In addition to an annual fundraising social, the society hosts on-site living history programs during the spring through fall months, putting students through lesson plans dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A “School Marm” dressed in period costume will answer questions about how learning differed from today’s educational experience.  Proceeds from the social and living history programs help to offset the costs to maintain the school property.

Zion Evangelical Lutheran School, Gladwin, MI

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Zion Evangelical Lutheran School (1916-1925)

3557 N. Oberlin Road

Gladwin, MI 48624

The Zion Evangelical Lutheran School, which served as a school from 1916 to 1925, is located at 3557 N. Oberlin Road in Section 35 of Sherman Township, in Gladwin County, near Gladwin, MI, just north of M-18 on the west side of the road next to the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.  Currently used as a private residence, the school was designated a Michigan Historic Site on November 20, 1987.

Saltair Schoolhouse, Bethel, OH

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Saltair Schoolhouse

Saltair-Maple Road

Bethel, OH

The Saltair schoolhouse is located on Saltair-Maple Road in Saltair, OH.  The brick schoolhouses that one sees to this day, at least in Clermont County, OH, were all constructed from around the mid 1850s to the 1890s, replacing smaller wood frame buildings like Saltair. The 1870 and 1891 Clermont County atlases have the Saltair School at this exact location. The 1891 atlas has this marked as “School Frac No. 1.” The term “fractional” was simply a less-used designation for sub-district. The building, possibly a very early one, could have been built anywhere from 1820 to around 1850, and if this is the case, it’s in fantastic condition and a one-of-a-kind example in the entire county.

    Saltair itself was named after the Salt family, who had a large family estate in England called Salt Aire. Edward Salt came to this remote area of Clermont County in 1796 after fighting for the colonies in the Revolutionary War. He settled here and this little town was born. The nearby Salt House located on Ohio Highway 222 in Clermont County, Ohio, was the Salt family home built about 1826 by John Salt. He was a trader. It is reported that he made 52 trips to New Orleans by flatboat, returning 13 times by foot. The Hamlet of Saltaire was named by him. The house is on the National Register of Historical Places.

Podunk School (1904), Gladwin, MI

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

Podunk School (1904)

Shearer Road and Ziemer Road

Gladwin, MI  48624 

Yes, there is a town in Michigan called Podunk. Actually, there are a couple of towns, in a few different counties called Podunk. Tucked away in Gladwin County, northwest of Midland, Michigan, sit the remains of Podunk, Michigan, a former logging town whose name is sometimes used to describe Michigan’s less-populated rural towns. It was informally established sometime during the 1860s. This was during the boom of the white pine logging era in Michigan. There was a logging camp in the area and that drew lots of seasonal people.  And then, as often was the case, when the timber ran out, people would stay and set up a small town.

     No one today is certain how Podunk got its name. One possibility is that it was named after another town with the same name. He says there are a few towns in New England called Podunk, and it was common for pioneers moving west to borrow familiar names when settling new areas. There are numerous places in Michigan alone that share the same names as New England cities. Podunk residents built a school in 1904, and a Methodist church around 1935. A dance hall was about the only source of social entertainment in the town. The population of Podunk started to tail off in the 1950s.

     Podunk still shows up on a map, buts it sits in ruins. Visitors can still see the ruins of Podunk’s school and Methodist church at the town’s crossroads. The old schoolhouse located on the southeast corner of Shearer Road and Ziemer Road in Section 9, Sage Township in the forgotten town of Podunk in Sage Township, Gladwin County, is a few miles northwest of Gladwin. There is not much left of the town of Podunk but the schoolhouse still stands.  It’s current use is unknown, but it looks abandoned.