Michigan One Room Schoolhouses: Henry Ford Museum

Thursday, June 4, 2015

WAYNE COUNTY

Scotch Settlement School (1861)

LOCATION: Greenfield Village, 20900 Oakwood, Dearborn

This school was moved to Greenfield Village in 1929.

Current Use: Museum

William Holmes McGuffey School (1934)

LOCATION: Greenfield Village, 20900 Oakwood, Dearborn

Current Use: Museum

According to TheHenryFord.org website, “This log schoolhouse represents the design of schools found in frontier areas of Michigan in the 1840's. It was constructed in Greenfield Village in 1934 from the logs of the Holmes family’s barn in western Pennsylvania, the birthplace of educator William Holmes McGuffey.”

A favorite of Henry Ford, the McGuffey Readers was a series of textbooks that were widely used in schools during the mid-1800’s. The Readers taught the fundamental skills of reading and writing using stories that included a wide range of subjects along with a moral or character lesson.

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.