Michigan One Room Schoolhouses: LEELANAU COUNTY

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

LEELANAU COUNTY

Beeman School (1881, 1900-1930)

LOCATION: On Plowman Road between M-72 and Beeman Road in Empire Township

School is on west side of road

Bingham District No. 5 School (1877 to WWII)

Bingham School & Sign

LOCATION: 7171 South Center Highway

Southeast corner of Bingham (aka CR 618) and Center Hwy (aka CR 633)

It was designated a Michigan Historic Site (MHS) on October 23, 1987 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on July 31, 1991.

Current Use: Bingham Township Hall

Valley School

LOCATION: 7999 Otto Rd, in Section 1, Bingham Township

Nortwest corner of Otto Road and Maple Valley Road

According to the owner, the original school burned and replaced with this stone structure (about 1910).

Current Use: Private Residence

Blue Heron School

LOCATION: 10097 W Front St, Empire
Locals say this building was used as a private school in the 1970's -1980's.
Current Use: Privately Owned

If anyone has more information about this building being used as a this school, please leave a comment following this post.

Boynton School (1907)

Boynton School Exterior and Interior

LOCATION: Empire Area Museum, 11544 S Lacore St, Empire

(Just off M-22 at the corner of Lacore and Salisbury Streets)

In 1989, the building was moved to its new location at the Empire Area Museum.

Current Use: Museum

North Unity School

LOCATION: On M-22 in Cleveland Township (just west of Narada Lake and ½ mile east of Basch Road) you will find a rough driveway that will circle around to the school. The log cabin schoolhouse is hidden by trees and is easily missed.

Current Use: Historic - Part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Shetland Schoolhouse (built 1871-1954)

LOCATION: 962 M 22 in Cleveland Township

Current Use: Private residence

Heimforth School

LOCATION: Southeast corner East Lakeview Hills Road and Lake Leelanau Road (aka CR 641) in Section 6, Elmwood Township

Current Use: Storage

Solon School (1898-1956)

Nearly Full Moon over Solon School

LOCATION: At the intersection of Solon Road and Hoxie Road (aka CR 616) in Solon Township

Greendale (or Glendale) School (1912)

LOCATION: 6980 Bohemian Road in Cleveland Township

Located at the “T” intersection of Bohemian Road and Ryant Road on west side of road The owner told me the school was called Glendale School and opened in 1912.

Current Use: Private Residence

Port Oneida School (1860-1950)

LOCATION: One-tenth of a mile north of M-22 on Port Oneida Road in Glen Arbor Township

The Port Oneida School began in the 1860's but this building was built in the 1890's.

Current Use: Historic - part of Sleeping Bear Dunes NLS

Tweddle School (1881, 1900)

LOCATION: 13012 M-22 (about 2 miles south of Empire) in Empire Township

(Notice separate entry doors for boys and girls)
Current Use: Historic - part of Sleeping Bear Dunes NLS

Glen Haven School (1881) Site

School Site and Exhibit Sign that refers to the School

LOCATION: About 1/4 mile south of Glen Haven at the northeast corner of M-109 and Glen Haven Road (where you would turn and continue east toward Glen Arbor) in Empire Township

Not much is known about this one-room school. An exhibit sign alerted me to the school’s existence. According to a Park Ranger, D.H. Day (the school’s superintendent) strongly believed in education for the area children.

Current Use: Vacant land – part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Maple City School

LOCATION: 172 W Burdickville Road, Maple City

Current Use: Business - presently it is being used as a bar.

A number of additions have been added to the back of the original school.

For more photos and information on Sleeping Bear Dunes Historic District please refer to my blog by clicking on the following link:
Denice's Sleeping Bear Dunes NLS Historic District Blog Post

While driving through Leelanau County, we noted the status on the following one-room schools:
- Norris (6f) School in Elmwood Township - GONE
- Armstrong School in Kasson Township - GONE
- Sutton bay School in Sutton's Bay Township - GONE

1 comment:

AllingtonDecember 8, 2020 at 6:36 AM
You missed the Bass Lake Schoolhouse in Northport. Building is still there, though it is a home now.
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Michigan One-Room Schoolhouses

I enjoy traveling and history and I document everything through another hobby – photography. Among my favorite subjects to photograph are one-room schoolhouses.

Okay, I am going to date myself but I attended a one-room school (Price School in Victor Township, Clinton County). The building was sold a long time ago and a field of corn now grows where the schoolhouse once stood. If anyone has a photo of Price School I would love to receive a copy!!

Those schoolhouses that have survived may now serve as museums through preservation efforts by local historical societies. Some have been converted into private residences, businesses, or are used by local government units. Unfortunately, most have been torn down or have been left in a state of decay. These disappearing structures represent a piece of history and looking for them is like going on a scavenger hunt.

Most schools were named after the land owner who provided the land for the school, a nearby town, or a local natural feature. Price School was named after its location (northeast corner of Price and Chandler Roads).

Everyday I walked about a mile to Price School – uphill, in the snowy winter, carrying my books … okay, during good weather I rode my bike. Since children walked to school back then, these one-room schools were built every few miles – depending on available funds and population of school-age children. Often the one-room schools were located in the township’s sixteenth section because that was the center of the township.

Like most one-room country schools, Price School had one front entry door but a few schools had separate doors – one for the boys and one for the girls.

Generally schoolhouses were painted white (cheaper) but there are some schools painted red. In Michigan, wood was plentiful and it was the most often used material for building the school. However, brick (and a few stone) schoolhouses were built too.

So, when we travel through each county in Michigan, I always keep watching and hoping to photograph these buildings before they disappear from the rural landscape that is part of our American history.

This blog site will be a work in progress. Each time I discover and photograph a historic schoolhouse, I will add that photo and whatever information I have on the school by editing the blog post that corresponds to the Michigan County the schoolhouse is located.

Please respect private property and view those former schoolhouses from the public right-of-way.

Some information (e.g. school names or dates) contained in this blog was obtained from Historical Societies, the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association, or County Equalization Departments.