OHIO SCHOOLS

1. MOHAWK SCHOOL                                           CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
2. GRIESEZ SCHOOL                                            SHELBY COUNTY
3. HOPEWELL SCHOOL                                        CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
4. UNION SCHOOL                                                 SHELBY COUNTY
5. WALK UP SCHOOL                                            SHELBY COUNTY
6. BUZZARD'S GLORY SCHOOL                           DARKE COUNTY
7. OAKLAND SCHOOL                                           DARKE COUNTY
8. WILLOWDELL SCHOOL                                     DARKE COUNTY
9. BULCHER SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY
10. UNION SCHOOL                                                  DARKE COUNTY
11. GOFENNA SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY
12. COPPESS SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY
13. CANYON SCHOOL                                              MIAMI COUNTY
14. SCHOOL # 3                                                         MIAMI COUNTY
15. UNION SCHOOL                                                  MIAMI COUNTY
16. MIDNIGHT SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY
17. CIRCLE HILL SCHOOL                                        MIAMI COUNTY
18. THOMPSON SCHOOL                                          MIAMI COUNTY
19. SCHOOL # 5                                                          MIAMI COUNTY
20. ORAN SCHOOL                                                    SHELBY COUNTY
21. SOCKUM SCHOOL                                               DARKE COUNTY
22. EXCELSIOR SCHOOL                                          DARKE COUNTY
23. RUES SCHOOL                                                     DARKE COUNTY
24. SCHOOL # 5                                                          MIAMI COUNTY
25. SCHOOL # 12                                                        MIAMI COUNTY
26. WEST GROVE SCHOOL                                       DARKE COUNTY
27. ASHLAND SCHOOL                                              MIAMI COUNTY
28. BUNKER FLAT SCHOOL                                      SHELBY COUNTY
29. POPLAR KNOB                                                     SHELBY COUNTY
30. BECK SCHOOL                                                     SHELBY COUNTY
31. WEAVER SCHOOL                                                SHELBY COUNTY  
32. TWIN OAK SCHOOL                                             SHELBY COUNTY
33. RUMLEY SCHOOL                                                SHELBY COUNTY
34. GRASS CREEK SCHOOL                                     SHELBY COUNTY
35. SCHOOL # 6                                                           AUGLAIZE COUNTY
36. SCHOOL # 6                                                           AUGLAIZE COUNTY 
37. WEIMERT SCHOOL                                               AUGLAIZE COUNTY
38. SCHOOL # 5                                                           AUGLAIZE COUNTY
39. BIG WOODS SCHOOL                                          SHELBY COUNTY
40. GEORGETOWN SCHOOL                                     SHELBY COUNTY
41. NEW PALESTINE SCHOOL                                   SHELBY COUNTY      
42. SUNNYSIDE SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY 
43. YOUNGS SCHOOL                                                  PREBLE COUNTY      
44. DRY RUN SCHOOL                                                 PREBLE COUNTY     
45. FAMOUS SCHOOL                                                  MIAMI COUNTY      
46. KNICK SCHOOL                                                      DARKE COUNTY     
47. WAKEFIELD SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY    
48. LONGTOWN SCHOOL                                            DARKE COUNTY   
49. TAMPICO SCHOOL                                                 DARKE COUNTY
50. ROCKPORT SCHOOL                                             DARKE COUNTY
51. CENTER SCHOOL                                                   DARKE COUNTY
52. CECIL SCHOOL                                                       SHELBY COUNTY
53. HUFFMAN SCHOOL                                                SHELBY COUNTY
54. SUGAR VALLEY SCHOOL                                      DARKE COUNTY
55. HAGENBAUGH SCHOOL                                        CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
56. SMITH SCHOOL                                                       CHAMPAIGN COUNTY      
57. MCCLURE SCHOOL                                                SHELBY COUNTY
58. HOPKINS SCHOOL                                                  SHELBY COUNTY
59. HAWVER SCHOOL                                                   SHELBY COUNTY
60. ELM CORNER SCHOOL                                          SHELBY COUNTY
61. BLUMHORST SCHOOL                                           SHELBY COUNTY
62. METZ SCHOOL                                                        SHELBY COUNTY
63. VAN BUREN SCHOOL                                             SHELBY COUNTY
64. DEITERS SCHOOL                                                   SHELBY COUNTY
65. HESS SCHOOL                                                         CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
66. FRANTZ SCHOOL                                                     DARKE COUNTY
67. HICKORY PARK SCHOOL                                        DARKE COUNTY
68. RAKESTRAW SCHOOL                                            MIAMI COUNTY
69. LOXLEY SCHOOL                                                     DARKE COUNTY
70. STELVIDEO SCHOOL                                               DARKE COUNTY
71. BUZZARD'S GLORY                                                 DARKE COUNTY
72. BRYSON SCHOOL                                                    DARKE COUNTY
73. JOINT DISTRICT 19 SCHOOL                                  DARKE COUNTY
74. BERRY SCHOOL                                                       DARKE COUNTY
75. BUNKUM SCHOOL                                                   DARKE COUNTY
76. DELISLE SCHOOL                                                    DARKE COUNTY
77. SHERMAN SCHOOL                                                 SHELBY COUNTY
78. HIGGINS SCHOOL                                                    SHELBY COUNTY
79. PROCTOR SCHOOL                                                 SHELBY COUNTY
80. BURTON SCHOOL                                                    SHELBY COUNTY
81. WEISKETTLE SCHOOL                                            SHELBY COUNTY
82. WEST JEFFERSON SCHOOL                                  SHELBY COUNTY
83. LIBERTY SCHOOL                                                    SHELBY COUNTY
84. BLAKER SCHOOL                                                     MIAMI COUNTY
85. BUCK CREEK SCHOOL                                            CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
86. POPLAR RIDGE SCHOOL                                         DARKE COUNTY
87. COLES SCHOOL                                                        DARKE COUNTY
88. HAZEL DALE SCHOOL                                              DARKE COUNTY
89. KELSEY SCHOOL                                                       DARKE COUNTY
90. SCHOOL # 8                                                                DARKE COUNTY
91. OAK GROVE SCHOOL                                                DARKE COUNTY

THIS POST-UNDER CONSTRUCTION   SOON THESE SCHOOLS WILL HAVE LINKS TO THIER OWN POSTS

SCHOOL # 4/WYANDOT COUNTY

                                                                              ANTRIM TOWNSHIP #4

SCHOOL #6 ERIE COUNTY

                                                             MARGARETTA TOWNSHIP  #6

SCHOOL #8/WYANDOT COUNTY

 

 

SALEM TOWNSHIP # 8

 

ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES

We still see them. They dot the rural landscape of  Ohio. But today most exist in a state of disrepair, silently crumbling beside a country road, buried in the underbrush. Some have been converted into homes, garages, township storage buildings, and grange halls. Yet their very presence evokes nostalgia for many who view them as symbols of a simpler time. “One-room schoolhouses,” according to educator Fred Schroeder, “are cherished symbols of an all but vanished lifestyle: independent, family-centered, and consciously tied to the soil.”

Uniform in design with bell towers and tall, narrow windows and often constructed of brick, these American icons are in fact third-generation structures built in the 1870s and 1880s and later. Their predecessors were generally made of logs with window openings covered with greased paper, and floors of dirt or puncheon. Others were wood-framed with clapboard siding and cedar shingles. Sadly, most of these wooden ones have long ago disappeared.

If the architectural styles of the early one-room schoolhouses varied over time, their geographic location on Ohio’s rural landscape did not. This was spelled out in the Land Ordinance of 1784 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1785. Profits from the sale or leasing of the lands of section 16 in each township of the Northwest Territory were set aside to finance public schools. But sales were slow due to the abundance of land available.

Laws establishing township school districts, inspectors, school committees, and a land valuation tax system soon remedied the situation, setting off a building boom of one-room schoolhouses across the state. So that no student would be forced to walk more than a mile, district boundaries were required to be no more than 4 square miles with the schoolhouse located near the geographic center.

Township trustees and their school committees oversaw the maintenance of the buildings, use of supplies, and expenses incurred. They kept track of the names, ages, and number of students in their districts. They hired, fired, and paid teachers as well as arranged for their room and board. All the while, they monitored the teaching abilities, character, and personal conduct of their educators.

Now there are probably only about a little over a  thousand of these buildings that still exist throughout Ohio, out of the approximate 10,000 that were originally built. A lot of the surviving ones were made into private homes, while others were transitioned into small barns. This site shows how the remainder of these schools look like today. Only the homes which still have the majority of the frame and foundation are pictured. I have only completed part of the Ohio search so far, so this site will be an ongoing process. I welcome any information which would help me provide more schoolhouses on this site.

ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES

MY DEEPEST APPRECIATION GOES OUT TO THE MANY WHO HAVE HELPED ME WITH THIS ENDEAVOR. THE DOZENS OF INDIVIDUALS, LIBRARIANS, HISTORIANS, SCHOOL/HOME OCCUPANTS, MAIL PERSONS, NEIGHBORS, AND OTHERS WHO HAVE MADE THIS MORE OF A JOY THAN A CHORE. AND, GIVING ME SO MUCH VALUABLE INPUT WHICH HAS HELPED ME TREMENDOUSLY. WITH BIGGEST HATS OFF TO LARRY HELTON AND JEREMY STEVENSON.

I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION THAT ALL OF MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING COPYRIGHTED. I AM WILLING TO GIVE THE RIGHTS TO NON-PROFIT HISTORICAL PROJECTS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS, HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. HOWEVER, IF MY PHOTOS ARE USED AS A PROFIT SOURCE, I DO EXPECT COMPENSATION.

PHOTOGRAPHER-WAYNE CHATFIELD (wynpatriot953@aol.com)

EVERY HOUSE THAT IS POSTED IS COMPRISED OF THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL,WHICH IS PERSONALLY VERIFIED. ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE HAD SIDING ADDED IN SOME CASES, THEY HAVE KEPT THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE UNDERNEATH OF IT. EVERYTHING THAT IS POSTED IS TRULY WHAT CONSISTS OF ALMOST ALL OF THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL HOUSE. THERE ARE AN OCCASSIONAL 2 ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES POSTED BECAUSE OF THE UNKNOWN ORIGINAL STATUS.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG IS ONLY CAPABLE OF HAVING SO MANY SCHOOLS POSTED ON THE FIRST PAGE. THERE ARE NOW OVER 800 SCHOOLS ON THIS BLOG. TO SEE ALL SCHOOLS, YOU MUST SCROLL DOWN AT THE BOTTOM AND CLICK ON OLDER POSTS. AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE THEY WILL BE ALL ORGANIZED BY COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP, BUT AT THE PRESENT TIME, ON THIS PARTICULAR BLOG THERE IS NOT ANY ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTIES OR TOWNSHIPS, THE SCHOOLS ARE JUST IN THE ORDER THAT I HAVE COME ACROSS THEM. SO, TO SEE ALL THE SCHOOLHOUSES FOR A COUNTY YOU WILL HAVE TO SEARCH THROUGHOUT THE BLOG. 

COVERED BRIDGES AND OTHER STRUCTURES FROM THE ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE ERA HAVE BEEN ADDED DUE TO THE FACT THAT THESE WOULD BE A PART OF THE LIFE OF THE STUDENTS WHO WENT TO THESE SCHOOLS.

AND, MOST IMPORTANT..., IF ANY READER KNOWS ABOUT OTHER SCHOOLHOUSES, PLEASE CONTACT ME AND LET ME KNOW ABOUT THEM.

AND........ TO ENLARGE PICTURES FOR BETTER VIEW, JUST CLICK ON THEM.

SCHOOL/MARION COUNTY

 

 

SALT ROCK TOWNSHIP

 

EGYPT SCHOOL/MARION COUNTY

 

 

SALT ROCK TOWNSHIP # 3

 

PRESIDENT HARDING'S TOMB/MARION COUNTY

 

 

MARION, OHIO

 

MARION TOWNSHIP

 

PRESIDENT HARDING'S HOME/MARION COUNTY

 

 

 

MARION, OHIO

 

MARION TOWNSHIP

 

SCHOOL #1/MARION COUNTY

 

 

TULLY TOWNSHIP # 1

 

SCHOOL # 4/MARION COUNTY

 

 

GRAND PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP # 4

 

SCHOOL # 5/MARION COUNTY

 

MARION TOWNSHIP # 5

 

SCHOOL #11/MARION COUNTY

 

 

CLARIDON TOWNSHIP # 11

 

SCHOOL #10/MARION COUNTY

 

 

CLARIDON TOWNSHIP # 10

 

SCHOOL #3/MARION COUNTY

 

 

RICHLAND TOWNSHIP # 3

 

SCHOOL #1/MARION COUNTY

 

 

RICHLAND TOWNSHIP # 1

 

SCHOOL #5/MARION COUNTY

 

 

GRAND PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP # 5

 

MARION COUNTY COURT HOUSE

 

 

MARION, OHIO

 

MARION TOWNSHIP

 

LINN SCHOOL/MARION COUNTY

 

 

MARION TOWNSHIP # 8