another old one room school

This one is in NJ,it is owned by the house next door to it,It is in nj,in the town I grew up in,My father went to this school,and my fathers aunt,before she got married to my fathers uncle,was the school teacher.My fathers grandfather and grandmother had a farm up the road from this schoolhouse and farmed with horses. My fathers grandfather was leading a bull home from a neighbors place and got injured,he died shortly after that. My fathers grandmother lived to be 97, there is a picture somewhere I her holding my brother as an infant she was 97,my brother is 60 now.

Did it have that many windows originally? How could a teacher keep (especially boys) attention when there's so much to see outdoors? Ah the good old days, I spent a couple of my earliest grades in a two room country school, like one big family!

All those windows were probably necessary to let in enough light to be able to read comfortably and to see the black board from every desk, especially on a cloudy day. If the school was built before gas or electric lights were available, kerosene lamps and candles would have been the main types of lights.

How old is the school building? Is the black board on the end wall or the long wall opposite the windows?

Really neat.

I too, was surprised by the wall of windows. Wonder if that was original.

There was a wall of windows in the 1-room school that I went to. The windows were on the east side of the building; no windows in the other 3 sides.

The school that I went to in mich looked just like that one. It had a row of windows on each side and the blackboard was on the end of the building. It had lights but I don't ever remeber them being on other than in the winter. There was a lean to off the end of the building and it had a big coal furnace in there which the teacher fired every day. We I left in 1962 to go to high school there were about 30 kids in the whole school and in my class there were 3 kids. One the the last teachers I had is still alive and I saw her a few years ago. I think the kids had more respect for the teachers in those days and I think the teachers cared more about the kids

Here are two old schools near Salida, CO.

We had an East and West wall of windows like that!

Thats classic, belfry and windows, awesome its still here. We have 2 in our town, both restored, maybe I ought to take some photos, even knew a few people who attended these, hard to believe but it was not that long ago, the one is all brick, kind of small but just awesome its still here.

(quoted from post at 04:24:38 03/13/13) Did it have that many windows originally? How could a teacher keep (especially boys) attention when there's so much to see outdoors? Ah the good old days, I spent a couple of my earliest grades in a two room country school, like one big family!

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Probably did have a wall of windows. Most of the one room schools did but not all. The one I went to which is at the foot of the hill from where I live had southerly faceing windows for good light in the winter. That school is now a residence and a very nice one at that!

gtractorfan:

"How could a teacher keep (especially boys) attention when there's so much to see outdoors?"

Back then a teacher was allowed to rap you on top of your head with a yardstick or across your knuckles with a ruler for not paying attention in class. Today they would be arrested for doing that.

My 1st & 2nd Grades were spent in a one room schoolhouse, then I got sent to "Public" schools.

Doc

there are still at least 20 old school houses here in harrison and surroundingg counties ,,.closest one is now serving as a grainary , and sports modern COCA COLA dispensor machine plastic fronts for window glass and used aluminum siding ..someday i will learn to post pix , but not today ...serveral school houses were converted to private homes,, most rural school houses were consolidated rite after ww2 ,, however , frenchtown area had a rural 4 room schoolhouse that closed in the late 50s that was rite along state rd 337

We have one in the neighbourhood used as the community hall now. The last class listed as taught was 1982 but I don't think that was high school must have been a kindergarten class.

i gather you are a youngster LOL ...think about it Now,60 years ago , if someone asked one to answer quikly ,, WHAT DO YOU DO TO DIM THE LITES,?the quik answer was TURN DOWN THE WICK! ,to take advantage of NATURAL LITE ,, LOTS OF windows WAS A MUST .. these school houses were built before rural electrification which began in the late 1920s ,and did not reach all areas of this county til early 1950s.kerosene lamps were common .some schools had their own lite plant ,, a simple gas engine and liquid GOULD battery glass containers ,it was the job of upper class boys to operate this on going science project ,also to fire the stove and anything else that contributed to comfort and welfare of all those in the school ,with that latitude of freedom coupled with the responsibility of many, these kids DEVELOPED PRIDE that multiplied with ambition .these kids went back to the farm and told Dad they could build their own electric plant, to modernize the family parlor and dairy parlor ,, and inspired to have hot baths and cold water under pressure with an inside toilet... it is VERY easy to understand why the GREATEST GENERATION became so GREAT .. they were raised and developed to realize that the best true success depended on their own ability to perform , these young men went on to endure and become officers and win world war 2, become elected on school bds and state senate and or go to further education in various fields ,many one room scholl house minds were building the best and yet simple farm tractors and equipment of the 1970s , keep in mind, america had some very nice tuf cars back in that era..if we could capture the ability to teach all that personel moral conviction and appetite to our next generations that the Greatest Generation eagerly embraced ,,America Would HAVE a MUCH BRITER FUTURE .

Must be one of the later one room schools, most of the earlier ones didn't have that many windows. Thanks, Larry

Here's ours in Sutton Ma. Built around 1800.

(the white one)

The red one is from the town I grew up in - next town over. (the red one) A little fancier.

Those were the great days when the kids could smoke in the toilets

Good Lord. What is that, a 20 foot setback?

I had the pleasure of going to one in the 4 th grade (1961?) K-8th grade. About 4-6 kids per grade. One of the 8th graders was janitor and stoked the fire every morning so the rest of us had heat. Outdoor $hitters. Just east of Shepherd MI called Campbell School. Mrs. Guild-teacher. Our house was only 1/2 mile away so not bad to walk. Got in trouble first day of school cuz I put a garter snake in girls (ladies room).

First 8 years schooling in one of those. First one had coal burning heat. Teacher fired it up. Heck, I was her pet, even sat on her lap. Next one not so much. Had an oil burner though. I was only kid in my grade for two years and one other rest of the time.

jhikemper,

LOL...sure not as young as I used to be! I am 49 and schools were all consolidated - we rode the bus to a town about 12 miles from home. Funny, I do not remember one room school houses where I grew up...but where my husband and I live, many still exist though they have been converted to houses now or are used as township halls. (I do remember threats in the 70's that consolidation would take place on a larger scale and we would have to bus twice as far... or live at the schools and come home for weekends. As an adult looking back, those threats must have been to help pass some referendum.

Thanks for the info. Interesting...and yes, I think the one room school houses had something "goin' on" that was positive and was lost when they were closed. I think learning in one must have been similar to how it works in a family... the older ones help the smaller ones and the smaller ones learn while overhearing lessons for the older students too - so everybody benefitted in one way or another.

Dick2,

That is interesting. I will have to try to get around our area this summer and see if I can get some photos around here. Seems like here they had windows on both sides.

Lots of 1-room schools still standing around here (sw Nebraska) but falling in. All stucco'd. Think the boss' dad said the last one closed in the late 60's.

He and his brother both went to Curtis for high school (9th grade) and quit within the first week. One after beating an upperclassman who was harrassing another freshman.

He told me that a lot of the unruly kids from up in the sandhills got sent to Curtis for high school.