I’ve compared the available photos of the Black River Township schoolhouse and I’ve come to the conclusion that the photo in the Arcadia
Images of America – Lorain book (shown above) is not the school once located at Meister and Leavitt Roads.
First of all, the pitch or slope of the gable roof in the photo found in the Lorain book is different from the Rudy Moc photos found in the Port Mills newspaper coverage. It is not as severe as the building shown in the airport photos.
Next, the front of the schools are quite different. (We can identify the front of each building because they all have a chimney in the rear.) The window in the peak above the front entrance is different – round in the Arcadia book, more ornamental in the airport photos. The detail around the windows is different as well.
Lastly, although the school in the
Lorain book has the same number of windows on it side, they all have a rounded brick design at the top, as opposed to a more pointed and separate arc above the windows in the airport photos.
Anyway, there were many old schoolhouses in Lorain County and some are still standing. Perhaps some day we can determine which school that actually is in the
Lorain book – as well as figure out if that is a small black dog in the photo.
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Be sure to visit the great flickr
site, “Ohio’s Historic One-Room Schoolhouses,” where you can see structures very similar to those presented here on the blog this week.
My friend who has long since passed away lived for a time in a one room school house that stands at Murray Ridge and Russia road. It looks like a dump now, but maybe worth a drive by. Rae
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rae! I'm planning more posts on these old schoolhouses in the future, so I'll add that one to the photo list! I tried to grab a photo of one of them that is now a residence last weekend (it's on West Ridge) but the owner was mowing the lawn and I was too chicken to stop and get a good shot.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many of these old school houses still exist in Lorain County. A Report on Lorain County schools published in October 1909 indicated that in addition to the 34 city and special school district buildings, there were 140 school buildings in the townships. The 142 teachers employed in the township schools were then teaching 3,615 students. That's an average of just under 26 students per building. Maintaining that many buildings must have been quite an expense, and one factor in the school consolidation of the 1920s.
ReplyDeleteAnyway Dan, you probably have a lot of potential material for any future posts on the subject! Top off your car's gas tank and grab an extra SIM card for your camera! LOL
There used to be a school house where Morse and Bank(s) Roads split, west of Mill hollow off of North Ridge Rd. Now I'm curious if it's still there. I need to take a ride, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI also remember one on Becker Road, between Vermilion Rd. and Gore Orphanage Rd. It was used as a storage barn for many years. That one disappeared back in the 80s.
I don't remember the particulars, but I recall being told that those school houses had to be built x miles apart. I think it was 3 miles, so that children weren't more than 3 miles from a school. I have no idea if that's actually true.
It is still there on find my grandparents who live in the white farmhouse behind it
DeleteThanks for all the comments, everyone. The one at Morse and Banks was still there in 2013 and is a particularly nice one. I posted a few photos of it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2013/10/brownhelm-township-schoolhouse.html