Rick Kurish Looks at Amherst Twp. Schoolhouses

I have a few posts scheduled for this week dealing with one-room schoolhouses, and I thought I'd lead off with a post that is – to put it in school terms – tardy.

Longtime blog contributor Rick Kurish sent me this reminisce eight years ago. It's a look at a few of the well-known former one-room schoolhouses that had served Amherst Township. As he notes, the photos are courtesy of two publications: Amherst Reflections and Quarry Town. 

(I'd been saving Rick's material to use as part of a multi-post series on one-room schoolhouses that I never got around to researching. But like many a teacher said: "Time's up!" So I'm posting it now and asking Rick's forgiveness for the delay.)

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Amherst Township Schoolhouses

By Rick Kurish

Ever since I was a kid in Amherst I have been intrigued by the old township schoolhouses scattered around Amherst Township. 

I don’t know if it was part of the requirement for contractors building the schools in Amherst Township or not, but the schools in Amherst Township all seem to be of sandstone construction. As a consequence, the buildings were extremely sturdy, and somewhat esthetically appealing. This combination of factors probably accounts for the continued existence of many of the buildings today. 

I have attached a few pictures from the publications “Amherst Reflections” and "Quarry Town” which are rather typical representations of the buildings. 

The first two photos show an old schoolhouse located on Milan Avenue. 

During my childhood, the building served as the Hickory Tree Grange, and the building is shown as it existed in the 1950s and 1960s. The second photo shows the building, restored as an historical schoolhouse at the Amherst Sandstone Museum Center. The building still sits where it was originally built. 

The next two photos show a schoolhouse that was originally located on Spring Street in Amherst. 

The first photo shows it had been converted into a home and it was still on Spring Street. The Amherst hospital bought the land to expand their parking lot so the building was moved to the Sandstone museum Center where it was again made into a chapel (as shown in the second photo). 

I have also included a photo of the old schoolhouse at Whiskeyville, which I believe was demolished or removed when Rt. 58 was widened around 1960. 

There are at least three other old sandstone schools still standing in Amherst Township that I am aware of. Two are residences: one at the corner of Rt. 113 and Bechtel Road, and the other on Middle Ridge Road between Rt. 58 and Pyle - South Amherst Road. 

Former school at 113 and Bechtel Road

Former school on Middle Ridge

An additional old sandstone school, also on Middle Ridge Road is familiar as the home of the Workshop Players. 

Interestingly, I have somewhere a picture of the older wooden schoolhouse that stood on that site, When the sandstone structure was built, the wooden structure was moved to a farm a few hundred feet west, where I believe it still exists. 

Things I haven’t thought about for a long time that were triggered by your blog. By the way, not that I’m old or anything, but I remember Mrs. Eppley, the teacher shown in your photo of the old Meister Road school. When I was in grade school in Amherst she was still teaching at the old Central School that I attended!