Michigan One Room Schoolhouses: KENT COUNTY

Sunday, May 31, 2015

KENT COUNTY

Myers School District No. 9 FR – Sparta-Algoma Townships

LOCATION: 16 Thirteenth Street (corner of Division and 13th Street), Sparta
Current Use: Unknown

Bowne Twp District No. 1 School (1859-1943)

LOCATION: 9402 Alden Nash Avenue (aka M-50)

At Southeast corner of Alden Nash & 84^th Avenue

Michigan Historic Site: July 15, 1999

Current Use: Bowne Township School Museum

Vergennes District No. 1 – Alton School (1873)

Alton School and Sign

LOCATION: 12980 3 Mile Road, Lowell in Vergennes Township

Three miles north of Lowell on 3 Mile Road (south side of road)

From the intersection of Lincoln Lake Road and 3 Mile Road, turn east and go about a quarter of a mile.

Michigan Historic Site: September 25, 1985

Current Use: Private Residence

Vergennes District No. 11 - McPherson School (1861)

McPherson School and Sign

LOCATION: 1573 Parnell, Lowell in Vergennes Township

On Southwest corner of Parnell and Downes Roads on the west side of the road

Michigan Historic Site: April 23, 1985

Current Use: Unknown

Moseley School (1919)

LOCATION: Southeast corner of Lincoln Lake Road & 4 Mile Road, Lowell in Vergennes Township

Michigan Historic Site: August 22, 1985

Current Use: Private Residence

Fallasburg School - Vergennes District No. 1 FR School (built 1867-1979)

LOCATION: Fallasburg Pioneer Village, 13944 Covered Bridge Rd. Lowell

From Lowell – take Lincoln Lake Ave north to Fallasburg Park Drive NE then right onto Covered Bridge Rd NE – drive through the Fallasburg Covered Bridge (over the Flat River) and you have arrived at the Fallasburg Pioneer Village. The school is on the left side of the road.

Current Use: Museum operated by the Fallasburg Historical Society. This is a Michigan Historic Site.

(Notice separate entry doors for boys and girls)

For more photos and information on the Fallasburg Pioneer Village refer to my Blog Post by clicking on the following link:

Denice's Pioneer Village Blog Post

4 comments:

MikeApril 18, 2021 at 8:01 AM
If you're interested, on the SW corner of 21 Mile Rd and Tyrone Ave was Longcore School, I went there for kindergarten and 1st grade. It's currently a private residence now.
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Amber SApril 30, 2021 at 9:32 PM
We live there now :)
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Amber SApril 30, 2021 at 9:34 PM
We live there 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.