This old schoolhouse, built in 1893, stood on the former Albon farm and served what was at that time a solidly rural populace, quite a distance from dirty, noisy Toledo. Picture farm children walking a mile to school in heat or cold, after having done farm chores for a couple of hours before ever leaving home - and doing more of them after walking back in the afternoon!
The school closed in 1926 when a township school district was established. After that, it underwent usage as diverse as a chicken coop, a home, and a church! The area gradually and eventually became a well-heeled suburb. The land on which the school stood, bordered the estate of the Stranahans, one of Toledo's foremost historical families. In 1974, the Stranahan estate passed via a vote of the people, into the hands of the metropark system and was developed into what is now one of Toledo's most popular parks, Wildwood. The schoolhouse, still at the edge of the park, was moved in 1998 to a more central location within the park, in order to both get it out of the way of a planned subdivision and to make it available to park visitors.
The park offers step-back-in-time programs for both adults and children, where a schoolmarm will teach you readin', writin', and 'rithmetic.
I'm not sure if these constitute either the drinking fountain, or the bathrooms!
This old schoolhouse, built in 1893, stood on the former Albon farm and served what was at that time a solidly rural populace, quite a distance from dirty, noisy Toledo. Picture farm children walking a mile to school in heat or cold, after having done farm chores for a couple of hours before ever leaving home - and doing more of them after walking back in the afternoon!
The school closed in 1926 when a township school district was established. After that, it underwent usage as diverse as a chicken coop, a home, and a church! The area gradually and eventually became a well-heeled suburb. The land on which the school stood, bordered the estate of the Stranahans, one of Toledo's foremost historical families. In 1974, the Stranahan estate passed via a vote of the people, into the hands of the metropark system and was developed into what is now one of Toledo's most popular parks, Wildwood. The schoolhouse, still at the edge of the park, was moved in 1998 to a more central location within the park, in order to both get it out of the way of a planned subdivision and to make it available to park visitors.
The park offers step-back-in-time programs for both adults and children, where a schoolmarm will teach you readin', writin', and 'rithmetic.
I'm not sure if these constitute either the drinking fountain, or the bathrooms!
2 comments:
Great pictures and story. Thanks Shari......russ
Thanks for the info! The city's website is down so I'm glad I found this.
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