We ventured over to Parmelee Farm on this coooooold afternoon (I asked for this, didn’t I – just hush) to see the progress on the old Pine Orchard School house reconstruction. The school house was given to the farm by a generous resident and the Historical Society paid to have it moved to it’s current site, where it is in the process of being rebuilt. Originally constructed in 1853 by W. E. Dickinson, Pine Orchard was one of several one-room school houses in the area, operating with approx. 15 students per school until 1948, when all were deemed economically unsound and were closed and sold as private property.
Excerpt by town historian Tom Lentz– The schools then, as now, accounted for a major portion of the town budget. In 1901/1902, the expenses for the Pine Orchard School were $282.80. Wood, kindling, etc. accounted for $10.00, furniture and labor for $55.80, and teacher’s wages for the remainder. The total expenses for all the schools was $2,232.99 amounting to 45.3% of the total town budget of $4,928.07.
Expenses increased in the following years although the number of students did not change significantly. The expenses for the Pine Orchard School in 1921/1922 were as follows:
C. H. French, labor 3.50
L. D. Parmelee, labor 1.25
lock, sash bolts, and repairs on clock 6.10
Martha Buhrer, teacher’s wages 1,000.00
C. H. French, fuel 28.00
Francis Catala, kindling fires 2.50
Mrs. T. B. Perkins, clock, halyards and broom 4.05
Total 1,045.40
Nice post and pictures Karen.
It's great to see this finally getting put back together. I think the people of Killingworth will be glad that this was saved…..Town history preserved.
that is cool. glad they have saved it and are restoring it. 🙂
I love when people care enough about their history, to preserve it! This is wonderful!
I enjoyed this post, Karen. Interesting information about the budget. The girls in those photos look like my mom and are about the same age. Always with the braids. My mom hated braids by the time she grew up and never wanted to put them in my hair. So I learned to do it myself later on.
Sorry it's so coooooold!
My barn is signed inside just like that, only in black, by the builder. It dates to about 1830.
Cool, isn't it?
I love this. Love the history, too…I love to think of this a way back when. We don't know 'old' like you all do! Our province wasn't even officially founded until 1905, the wild west just remained that…for a long time. This must just swell the hearts of some of the older folks in the area. Do you live in a place where a lot of families have stayed for years and years, or is it somewhere many have moved into, etc?
It's minus 27 C here today (-16f) which is cold, but not our coldest. The wind is wild and I'm not appreciating that aspect! We are inside with the fire burning, while my husband had to fix some water issue in the barn this morning. See how oblivious I am? Terrible!
Love this stuff, and the old photos. Every class has a trouble maker and I think the problem child in this class is the boy in the first row, far left. Mischievous looking.
The outline of where the stairs were, cool stuff. I do believe the price for kindling fires at $2.50 was a bit steep. Interesting expense sheet. Nice research there, great post.
Wasn't the style of their writing in 1853 beautiful? We have a piece or two with hand painted lettering, so neat!
The red house at the top of the blog reminds me do you watch This old house on PBS? The house they are currently featuring was red and white like that and the owners decided to make it grey and white. To each their own!
That's the one thing I love about living in the Eastern U.S. History and old buildings. Didn't see a lot of that in Arizona… just a few old adobe structures.
Such a treasure! I remember hearing my uncle talk about teaching in the one room school house over home.
Beautiful post!
As a teacher this post warmed my heart – even if it is flipping freezing outside!
I love that they are restoring it. Those expense reports are amazing!
Thanks for sharing.
Pam
Wow! What a project. I love it when history is preserved so that future generations can enjoy it. We have a whole little "village" here called Heritage Hill that is a landmark of homes/etc. that have been moved and rehabbed. xo Diana
I absolutely LOVE to visit historic places like this! And it's fun to read the list of expenses! Amazing! And you don't look cold at all…all bundled up! Hugs! ♥
Great post Karen! !!!!!
That's terrific! It's great to see the old building come to life again!
It is so good that these buildings are being preserved. A really interesting post.
Please make sure to keep us posted on it's progress. Always love to see old structures restored to their original beauty. 🙂
What a wonderful gift, this old school building restored.
This is so awesome. The past needs to be preserved.
I grew up in a new suburb back in the 60s and our street abutted an abandoned farm; the barn, the house, the acres of grassy land. We played for hours over there and the house in particular fascinated me. I had my entire imaginary family (husband, kids, dogs) living there in my mind.
It's the first place I ever saw glass canned goods. When I was a young mom I taught myself how to can and spent many happy years doing that for my family.
These photos are awesome as well as always dear girl!