Mt. Hope School (Warren County Historical Society)
Warren County Fairgrounds
400 West 2nd Ave.
Indianola, IA 50125
Inside Mt. Hope School House in Indianola, Iowa, are dozens, maybe hundreds, of books. They sit on tables and bookshelves and on top of each other, and the entire room smells of their well-loved pages. Some of the books were donated by former students; others came from Warren County residents. The Questers, a group of 13 Warren County women dedicated to preservation of the building, catalog the donations, which include ink wells and desks. Built in 1916, the schoolhouse was used by students until it closed in 1959. In the 1970s, it was moved onto the Warren County Historical Society property at the Warren County Fairgrounds, 400 West 2nd Ave., Indianola, to help preserve the building.
Deb Taylor, president of the historical society, said the group has been raising money for several months to refurbish the building’s interior. The Questers have already replastered and painted most of it, but Taylor said the floor needs to be refinished and the windows replaced. That will cost upward of $7,000. The group is relying entirely on donations and fundraisers. Donated books are sorted by year in the Mt. Hope School House. The school house is taken care of by the Questers. Taylor said the dream is to install electricity and heating and cooling in the schoolhouse to create a controlled environment for the history inside. People can visit the schoolhouse when the historical society is open Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
Old Euclid District 4 Schoolhouse (Little Red School House)
Richmond Rd.
Lyndhurst, OH
The Old Euclid District 4 Schoolhouse is located on the western side of Richmond Road (State Route 175) at the Oakmont Drive intersection in Lyndhurst, Ohio, United States. Built in 1920, it is listed with the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1980. There’s a lot of history in the Little Red School House, a well-kept secret 100 yards south of the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Board of Education building, at Mayfield and Richmond roads in Lyndhurst. The original Little Red School House was on the southwest corner of Mayfield and Richmond, where the SE-L Board of Education building now sits. It closed in 1917 and reopened as Euclidville Village School. Euclidville became Lyndhurst in 1920. Adjacent land was purchased in 1921 and the LRSH was moved 100 yards south. Lyndhurst Village School was built in its place. When the SE-L school district was created in 1924, the LRSH closed. The building was restored in 1976 by the SE-L Bicentennial Committee.
The one-room schoolhouse was the original building of what is now the SE-L school district — back when it was known as the Euclid Township school district. An American flag on the classroom wall has only 36 stars. That was the number of states in the nation in 1866, the year the Little Red School House opened. Visitors can also find an abacus, which students used instead of calculators; slates with chalk, instead of notebooks or computers; an old-fashioned heater and a wood-burning stove; a bucket with a dipper; and a feathered pen. The property, owned by the district, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
When the third-grade classes on field trips to the LRSH walk into the classroom, the date of Nov. 1, 1866, is written on the blackboard. It’s an experience the students won’t soon forget, since it’s like stepping into a time machine. They’re told it’s the first day of school by a teacher wearing an old-fashioned hat and smock apron. Volunteers not only teach the children such subjects as math, reading, geography and social studies, but they also drill them on how students were expected to behave in the 19th century. Students are also told the proper way to answer a question from the teacher, in a complete sentence.
The lessons tie in with a unit on history and social studies that the classes work on both before and after their visit to the LRSH. After about 90 minutes, the third-graders visit the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch library and the South Euclid Historical Society, where more volunteers work with them. Tthe Lyndhurst Garden Club helps in keeping the building maintained and planting a garden outside. The school district, which put a new roof on the building recently, and the garden club have shared the responsibility of its upkeep and scheduling of events. Although the building is used by some community groups, it is not available for regular public rentals.
The Carnak One-Room Schoolhouse, located on Ridge Road, Norwood, Georgia, may have served a dual purpose as a church. It is situated near two abandoned board-and-batten houses, about a mile outside Camak in Warren County.
The Beulah Rucker House-School is a historic building in Gainesville, Hall County, Georgia. It was built in 1915 by Beulah Rucker Oliver, an African-American educator, as a historically black school until 1920, when it received funding for the construction of more buildings adjacent to this one from the Rosenwald Fund. Oliver, her husband and their four children lived in the house until she died in 1963. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 4, 1995. It is now known as the Beulah Rucker Museum and features exhibits dating from the late 19th century to the present with rooms containing 20th century furnishings, artifacts, and pictures. The museum is open by appointment only.
Beulah Rucker Oliver (1888-1963) was born in Banks County in 1888 to Caroline Wiley and Willis Rucker. She was one of eight children born to the sharecroppers. Ms. Rucker knew from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to be a teacher and devoted her life to that desire. The first school Ms. Rucker attended was taught in a small wooden church in Banks County call Neal’s Grove. She also attended Jeruel High School in Athens and Knox Institute. During her senior year at Knox Institute, she began to have dreams and visions of establishing a school for her race.
The mission of the Educational Foundation and Museum of Beulah Rucker Inc. is to memorialize the life of this phenomenal African-American woman through educational and civic activities that enhance the quality of community life. The museum is dedicated to preserving African-American heritage and promoting awareness of the contributions and personal sacrifice of Ms. Beulah Rucker Oliver. This museum is the first to focus on African-American heritage in Gainesville-Hall County and north Georgia. The life’s work of Beulah Rucker Oliver will live on through her vision of equal education and opportunity and the sacrifices she made in the pursuit of this dream. Her former home and school provide a tangible link with the community’s past.
Historic Banner Oak School (originally Lord School) Bedford District #6
23 E. Sterns Rd.
Temperance, MI 48182
The history of Banner Oak School in Monroe County, Michigan, begins back before Civil War days when the Julius L. Sterns family settled on a piece of property near this location. An old tax bill of 1853 shows a wooden frame schoolhouse was on the northeast corner of Crabb and Sterns Roads. Known as the Lord School, it was used from at least 1853 until 1871. During the Civil War, Sterns hung an American flag from the huge oak tree in the schoolyard to prove his patriotism and hatred of slavery. Legend has it that he said whichever side the flag falls would win the war. During a severe storm, the banner fell, and the rest is history.
By 1871, the little wooden Lord School was crammed to capacity. The new school, brick this time, was designed by Frank Ludwig, noted Toledo architect, and built just across the road. Still called Lord School, it would later be named “Banner Oak” after that memorable legend. It housed the children of the district from Dean Road, one mile north, to the Ohio State line, one and one-half miles south. It extended east to the district line of Morin School and west to Lewis Avenue. The School Board and parents provided the best education of its kind for their children. In 1932, they had hot lunches and visits from the County Nurse. Up to 1933, County Exams were taken in Temperance.
This brick school served as a one-room schoolhouse with grades one through eight until 1929. A student body of fifty-two children and one teacher made its facilities so crowded that a portable classroom was built on the east side to house a second teacher and the lower four grades. Banner Oak was a two-room school until the end of the 1947-48 school year. Then it became part of the recently (1946) consolidated Bedford Rural Agricultural School system. Banner Oak was the last rural school in the area to do so. The two room school then housed fourth, fifth and sixth graders until it was closed at the end of the 1955-56 school year. The school bell was removed for safe keeping and the school stood alone for some time.
The Township Board bought the school for $1 and used it until the early sixties as a voting precinct. During the sixties it was used for services of Bedford Missionary Baptist Church and was a branch of the Monroe County Y.M.C.A. The portable building was destroyed by fire in the early seventies. In 1973, the Little Theater Group of Bedford became interested in remodeling the schoolhouse for a Community Theater and many articles appeared in the Bedford Courier. They had hoped to have it ready for the Bicentennial in 1976, but to no avail.
In 1978, another effort was launched and friends and alumni of Banner Oak were attracted to the project of restoring the old school. With two efforts of raising funds, $1,500 was obtained from several old families of the Alumni and some local businesses. Through their efforts and with much help from the members of the Historical Society of Bedford, Banner Oak School has now been restored as a one-room school and is on the Michigan State Register of Historic Sites. It is the only building in the township that is so designated. On May 18, 1986, Banner Oak School was rededicated at a special ceremony to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Bedford Township. It is presently a Turn-of-the-Century Living History Museum operated by the Historical Society of Bedford Inc.
The school was designated as Bedford School House No. 6 and served south Monroe County students up until 1930. It is a Michigan State Historic Site. In its current life as a living history museum, Banner Oak School is a popular location for classroom field trips where students learn about school days from years gone by. At one time, there were 10 independent school districts in Bedford Township. As was typical of Monroe County rural schools of the time, students would find a high school to transfer to. Banner Oak was the last of the rural school districts to merge into what was originally called Bedford Rural Agricultural Schools.
As countless school children, scout troops and other tour groups have seen over the years, it’s now a replica of what a rural Michigan school would have been like in the 1870s. This includes wooden pupil desks, textbooks of the time, a small piano, slates, and a warning tacked on the wall of the consequences awaiting an “ill behaved boy.” Typically, it’s the fourth graders who come to visit for a half day or full day of class. Teachers encourage students to dress and pack a lunch as 1870s children did. The children also are invited to play baseball outside — it was a popular game at the time.
The Old Sixes one room school house is located in the Sixes Community, Cherokee County, Georgia outside of Canton. Sixes is an unincorporated community in western Cherokee County located about three miles west of Holly Springs and near the eastern shore of current-day Lake Allatoona. Present day owners, Steve Rich and Nathan Rich, of Construction Management Services, purchased the property in February, 2021. The first project of saving the historic structure included safely stabilizing the building while maintaining and respecting its historic integrity. The structure was built in 1876 and served as a school to the Sixes community until it closed in 1950. The building features original heart pine flooring, wood walls, ceilings, and arched doorway between the two main rooms.
Bainbridge Center School (Bainbridge District No. 7)
Bainbridge Township Hall
7315 Territorial Rd.
Watervliet, MI 49098
Bainbridge Center School (Bainbridge District No. 7) at Territorial and Bainbridge Center Rds., Bainbridge Township, Berrien County, Michigan, was built in 1888. It is a red-brick schoolhouse having 2 large windows on one side while others are covered by an L-shaped hip-roofed addition to the building, 4 large windows on the other side, and two front doors with transom windows above them, one for boys, one for girls, with a very large window between them. Above the window is the modern sign identifying the building as “Bainbridge Township Hall,” its current use. Above that is the original school identification sign stating “District No 7, 1888.”
Above that is a round attic vent, the roof, and the bell tower with a school bell inside. The bell tower is a replacement of the original schoolhouse bell tower, and was installed to replace the original on November 3, 2002. The bricks and mortar of this schoolhouse are painted red, and the trim is all white. Above all windows and doors is a double-row of edge-on bricks in an arch-shape, with a white keystone in the center of the arch. The school was in use until 1967, and the township paid $1000 for the building. Except for the vent under the peak of the roof and the additions and the recent red-paint job, this school is very similar to the nearby Brick School.
McKinley School, built in 1886 at Vassar, Tuscola County, Michigan, to serve pupils on the east side of the city, was originally known as the “East Primary Building.” However, soon after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, the name was changed to McKinley School. The first school in Vassar, a frame structure, was built in 1852; this was replaced in 1860 with a brick structure. As the population increased, an addition was made to that school in 1881. However, the district was still growing, and the decision was made to construct a second building to serve pupils living on the east side of the city.
The McKinley School is a 1-1/2 story plain brick two-room schoolhouse on a stone foundation. The red bricks are painted white, and just starting to bleed through. The main entrance is through two double doors located within an arched opening with a semicircular transom window above it and surmounted by a fan light. A 40-foot-tall tower once held the school bell, but it no longer remains. There is a large semicircular window above the first story on the front of the building, where a school identification sign is typically found. The windows are in segmented arched openings. There is a small window on both sides of the door, and larger windows on the front of the school, outside of the foyer. There are 4 large arched windows on the left and right sides, and another 4 in the back. The windows have concrete sills and multiple row arches of bricks at their top. Projecting brickwork is used throughout the building in window surrounds, dental-type details under the roofline, and the huge arch around the front door. However, the white paint does a lot to hide these details as it also does on Cherry Hill School.
Inside are two rooms, both 27 feet by 33 feet. A small kitchenette is in the rear, and the building contains bathrooms and a coatroom. The design of this school looks similar to Capitol Hill School, Monterey Center School, Maple Ridge School, Old Stone School, Thayer School, Salisbury School, and Bell Tower School. The building was used for classes by the school district until 1964, after which it was used as storage by the school district until 1971, when it sold to private owners. The old school used to house a dance school, but it is currently a private residence. The former McKinley School building located at 510 Butler Street in Vassar, Michigan, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Drake (initially known as the Getchell) School, Platte Township District #2
The Benzie Area Historical Society Museum
Fowler and Valley Roads
Benzonia, MI 49616
The Drake School in Platte Township, Benzie County, MI, was built in 1891 and used as a school until 1943. The Drake School is owned by the Benzie Area Historical Society and is open Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 P.M., July and August. The school is located on at the intersection of Fowler and Valley Roads in northern Benzie County. The Platte Township District #2 school, now known as the Drake School, was first mentioned in the assessment roll for 1876. Prior to this, District #1, the Morgan school, was the only school listed. The 1876 tax assessments for the two districts were $131.21 for District #1 and $22 for District #2. There is no mention of another building and the only known pictures are of the present building. The Drake school building, though, is listed in the assessment roll of 1879, with contents valued at $50.
The school was initially known as the Getchell School, named after adjoining landowners, and later changed to the Drake School in 1913, probably when the L. C. Drake family purchased the corner property across the road from George Getchell. The school operated from 1879 until it closed in 1943 when its pupils were bussed to Honor. The building stood vacant until 1957 when the Honor Public School District #5 sold it to Ellsworth and Ellen Esch who, later that year, sold it to Alex and Katherine Maley, Chicago residents who summered in the area. It is believed that many items and school supplies from the Drake school were simply left in the building when it was sold. Many of the desks, books, a recitation bench, several of the chalk slates, a map case and the water cooler are original to the school. The Maleys, when they were moving from Chicago to Platte Township, lived in the building for at least one summer while their house was being built. Alex Maley was president of Alexander Chemical Company in Chicago and, after retiring and moving to Benzie, he formed Honor Christmas Tree Farms, a partnership with Ellsworth Esch.
In 1988, Katherine Maley donated the property to the Benzie Area Historical Society. The Platte Grange, #1328, assisted BAHS in restoring the property to an early 1900 time period. It was rededicated as the Drake School museum on May 13, 1989 in the presence of over 120 guests, including three former teachers and many former students. The schoolhouse, located on the corner of Fowler and Valley Roads in Platte Township, is open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in July and August. Volunteer educators offer a half-day “One-Room Schoolhouse Experience” for kindergarten through fifth grade students at Drake School May through October. Kids experience what it was like to be a student of the time and learn about the local people who lived here in the early 20th century. The day is filled with old-time fun and learning, giving an authentic one-room schoolhouse experience.
Students of Walled Lake started their education in one-room schools in the 1800’s. Stonecrest School, still located at 207 Liberty, was used from 1860 to 1895. In 1895, a two-room Standard School, now the Masonic Temple located on West Walled Lake Drive, opened and housed grades one through four in one room and grades five through eight in the other. When the Walled Lake Consolidated School opened its doors for the first time in 1922, the students from the two-room Standard School on Walled Lake’s Main Street paraded the mile distance to the new building carrying American flags.
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