Steiner Pioneer and Logging Museum of Oscoda County
1980 Reber Rd.
Fairview, MI 48621
The Old North Fairview School, built in 1895, is located at the Steiner Pioneer and Logging Museum, 1980 Reber Road, Fairview, in Clinton Township, Oscoda County, MI. Its current use is as a museum. The Steiner Museum is a Pioneer and Logging Museum dedicated to preserving the history of Oscoda County and the pioneers who settled the area. It is devoted to collecting and displaying artifacts from those who settled the County. Earl Steiner (1902-1979) was the founder of the Steiner Museum, which is 2 miles north of Fairview on M-33 at the SW Corner of M-33 and Reber Road.
Constructed in 1911 and 1912 on land donated by Ed Ekman shortly after Rollins, MT, got its name, the small white Rollins schoolhouse overlooking Flathead Lake above the east shore of Canal Bay had a single room until another was added later in the school’s operation. Ekman, a stone mason, laid the foundation himself and installed the school’s hardwood floors. The school itself was constructed by Richard Louis Uhde, and a basement was dug out by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. In the 1950s, students carried water from a faucet to the school, which had no running water, and went to the bathroom in a pair of outdoor privies west of the building. By the late 1960s, there were not enough students for Dayton and Rollins to operate separate schools, so grades one through four attended classes in Rollins while students in fifth through eighth grades went to school in Dayton.
Only first and second grades were taught at the school in its final year of operation during the 1971-72 school year. In addition to classes, the schoolhouse hosted numerous Halloween and Christmas parties over the decades. Rollins, Proctor and Dayton consolidated their schools in summer 1972 to form the Upper West Shore School District, with all students attending classes in Dayton. It was then leased for decades by the Women of Rollins Club who paid for the building’s upkeep since the early 1970s. In 2021, the Upper West Shore School District looks to sell the property to fund expansion and improvements for its growing student population, and listed the historic schoolhouse for sale for $500,000 as a “unique opportunity to own a piece of history.” The Women of Rollins Club had approached the school district several times over the past five decades asking to purchase the old school, only to be turned down.
The club also looked into having the school added to the National Registry of Historic Places in the mid-1990s, but the application was never submitted. However, by November 19, 2021, The Women of Rollins Club had completed the purchase of the historic Rollins Schoolhouse. This was made possible due to the generous contribution made to the club by Jim Hollensteiner and his family. Hollensteiner has lived in Rollins for 40 years and attended the Rollins School in 1943. His aunt, Lena Stahl, was a teacher at the school over a century ago. The Women of Rollins Club holds monthly meetings and annual quilting and other events to raise funds for charity and the restoration of the property. This sale is an example of the best of Montana, when community-minded people come forward and work together to support the history and ensure the future of one of its many historic buildings.
Grandview School, which operated from 1907 to 1926, is located on the Oscoda County Fairgrounds a at 1889 Caldwell Rd., near Fairview in Clinton Township, Oscoda County, Michigan. It is about 8/10 of a mile north of M-72. The entrance to the Fairgrounds is on the west side of road, and the school is to the left of the entrance station. Its current use is as a museum.
Shawneetown (population 1,410) and “Old” Shawneetown (population 287) are located in far southeastern Illinois in eastern Gallatin County. Illinois Route 13 is the main roadway through both towns and is paved alongside the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The original Shawneetown sits on the banks of the Ohio River. The original or “Old” Shawneetown was established in 1800 (only 24 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence). It is considered Illinois’ first eastern settlement. The first bank in Illinois was built, and stands today, in the original Shawneetown. The town was projected to be one of the most important cities in the United States due to its central location (at that time) and proximity to the main waterway connecting the midwest to the east, the Ohio River. In 1833 it was said that a delegation of businessmen came to Shawneetown for advice and were told that Chicago was way too far north to ever be anything more than a small village.
Shawneetown grew and flourished; however so did the rest of the country. Transportation became less reliant on the rivers and more reliant on the railroads. It is believed Shawneetown offfered a school system for its children in the early to mid 1800s. A high school was probably established in the late 1800s. A tragedy and threat of living on a major river caught up to Shawneetown in the mid-1930s. In 1937 the Ohio River is said to have crested 21 feet over its normal waterline. The devastation to the scenic and historic Shawneetown was such that most of the town’s residents found it unreasonable and unsafe to attempt to rebuild. A new town location was mapped out on higher ground to the west of the original Shawneetown. It was simply named Shawneetown and it has since been occupied by about 1,500 people. Some residents of “Old” Shawneetown moved back, but the location never recovered. The original bank building still stands; however the population never rose much above 300 again.
The former Shawneetown District High School, located on Illinois Route 13 on the southeastern edge of Shawneetown, Illinois, was built in 1927, ten years before the Great Flood of 1937 largely destroyed Shawneetown at its original riverside location (now Old Shawneetown) and forced the construction of the new town several miles back of the river. Shawneetown residents were resilient and supported their new town and newly built high school for several more years. Around 1991, Shawneetown residents entered into consolidation talks with other Gallatin County towns including Ridgeway, Equality, and Junction. This effort led to Shawneetown joining the already created Gallatin County School District. The school was located near the town of Junction. The former Shawneetown High School building is no longer used as a public school. It was sold to a resident and is believed to be used in a private capacity.
Comins School, in operation from 1896 to 1925, was located at 789 Ryno Road (a.k.a. M-72), on the south side of road near Mio, MI, in Clinton Township, Oscoda County. Today, its current use is as the St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church.
The West Brick School is a historic school building at 1492 Old Turnpike Road in Oakham, Massachusetts. Built about 1827 on the site of an 18th-century schoolhouse, it is one of the rural community’s few surviving 19th-century brick buildings. The West Brick School is located in northwestern Oakham, on the north side of Old Turnpike Road, between Scott Road and the Old West Cemetery. The school is a small 1-1/2 story brick structure, with a front-facing gable roof and a stone foundation. The building was built with brick that was probably sourced from a brickyard on New Braintree Road. The gable ends are finished in wooden clapboards, with a window opening (typically covered by batten shutters) at the center of the south one. The front (south-facing) facade is three bays wide, with the entrance in the left bay, topped by a transom window. Windows are set in all sides except the west side, which has no openings.
The interior has a small entry hall, which opens into a single room occupying most of the interior. A storage space along the west wall was probably intended for storage of firewood. The interior has original flooring and walls, including vertical wainscoting and plaster. Interior doors retain original hardware and fastenings. The property includes the remnants of an old outhouse, and an organized roughly dome-shape pile of dressed stone that may have served as a base for a flagpole. The building served as a school until 1920, when it was closed due to declining enrollment. The school underwent a number of alterations during this time, mainly due to state requirements governing school facilities. These were largely limited to improving ventilation during the heating season, and occasionally using shutters to manage light levels in the building. After the school was closed, ownership apparently reverted to the adjacent land owner. Thereafter, in 1936, it was converted into a summer retreat residence by a Worcester couple, with sensitive attention to its historic character. In 2002 it was purchased by the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
The Luzerne School is located about 22.5 miles east of Grayling, MI, and ½ mile west of Luzerne on M-72 in Big Prairie Township, Oscoda County, MI. It is on the north side of road, east of the cemetery. The current use is as a Baptist Church.
Lupton Schoolhouse (Rose Township District No. 5 School)
3668 Cherry Street
Lupton MI 48635
During the 1903-1904 school year, Alexander Reid built the two-room Rose Township District No. 5 School building, known commonly as the Lupton Schoolhouse, on land donated by George T. Stanley. Reid had come to Lupton only four years before. The 1904-1905 class consisted of ninety-eight children. Classes were held here until 1964. Since then it has served many community groups. In 1993 the Lupton Area Senior Citizens donated the building to the Bible Baptist Church for use as an educational and activities center. The Rose Township District No. 5 School Marker was erected in 1995 by the Michigan Historical Center, Michigan Department of State, and is located in Lupton, Ogemaw County, Michigan, on Cherry Street, on the left when traveling south, about 150 feet south of Malone Avenue.
Riverside School (Geneva District No 8), located at the northwest corner of CR-384 (a.k.a. 12th St.) and 68th St., was built in 1903 and is now a privately owned residence. It is a beautiful red-brick schoolhouse with a portico above the front door, a large window on either side of the front door, 3 large windows on both sides to let in light for the students, a prominent school identification sign above the front door, and an intact bell tower above that on the roof, with a school bell inside. Non-projecting arches of brickwork are above the windows and front door, but there is no other decorative brickwork that can be seen.
Wooden Old Stone School Michigan State Historic Site
11990 Stephenson Rd.
Onsted, MI 49265
In Lenawee County, southern Michigan, northwest of Onsted, not far from the Irish Hills area, is an old stone schoolhouse located on the northeast corner of Hawkins Highway and Stephenson Road. A historical landmark in Michigan, it is built with fieldstone, but it is known as the Wooden schoolhouse because it was built in 1850 by a minister named Robert Wooden. The school was used for over a century until it closed in 1955. Afterward it sat empty for over 20 years and was deteriorating rapidly. By 1979 it was in such bad condition that the township condemned it and it was slated for demolition. A group of citizens, residents, and former school children banded together in 1983 and convinced the township to deed the historic stone schoolhouse to the newly formed Wooden Old Stone School Association.
The group then proceeded to fix up and restore the schoolhouse so that by 1989 it was in good shape, and it remains standing today as one of the oldest schoolhouses in Michigan. The fieldstone building is also known as the Cambridge Number 6 and is believed to be Michigan’s second oldest One-Room Schoolhouse still standing all by itself. Not only that, but the old school was given its own Historical Marker. It reads, in part, “In 1850 the Reverend Robert Wooden built this school, located in Cambridge School District No. 6. It is an example of early fieldstone construction, commonly found in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula.” The old Wooden schoolhouse is said to be the oldest one-room school still standing in Lenawee County, and one of the oldest in the entire state.
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