Schoolhouse museum to hold open house Sunday
Three former school teachers, continue to wear the attire of the 1880s while volunteering at the museum. From left are Joyce Zimmerman, Connie Crawford and Avis Henry. -- Contributed
An open house will be held at the Pleasant Hill School House Historical Museum, left, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The museum is located on state Route 213 in Steubenville. -- Contributed
Three former school teachers, continue to wear the attire of the 1880s while volunteering at the museum. From left are Joyce Zimmerman, Connie Crawford and Avis Henry. -- Contributed
An open house will be held at the Pleasant Hill School House Historical Museum, left, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The museum is located on state Route 213 in Steubenville. -- Contributed
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STEUBENVILLE -- The Pleasant Hill School House Historical Museum will hold an open house for all area residents from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
This will be a guided tour, according Connie Crawford, a former Edison Local school teacher who along with Gloria Renda and Karen Lundquist, began the restoration project of the one-room schoolhouse.
According to Crawford, there will be a special treasure hunt where prizes will be awarded to children who bring along a parent or adult.
Located approximately two miles from state Route 7 and state Route 213's park and ride lot, the schoolhouse offers visitors the opportunity to see what life was like during the 1880s from the inside of a one-room schoolhouse.
Among its offerings which guests will see upon their tour, is the recently-remodeled bell tower, along with its refurbished original school bell.
The process of returning the bell to the tower took quite awhile, Crawford noted. She explained there were a lot of steps involved to ensure the building will remain as it first appeared when constructed.
Clarence Virtue, a former Edison principal, took possession of bell and placed it in his barn, where it sat until he heard the structure was being restored. He took it to Crawford, asking if she would like to have it.
Once retrieved, the bell was refurbished and placed in the reconstructed tower by Fred Mehling.
It literally took a community to make the project what it has become today, the women stated.
Donations, luck and several blessings have made it possible to maintain much of the room's original features.
The building was built around 1836 and served as a church until 1880 when it became a schoolhouse until 1952. It was then turned into a home for a few local families until the late 1970s.
An attempt to restore the building was first attempted in 1976, and a second attempt made in 1986.
In 2008, the third attempt to restore the schoolhouse was approved and work began.
Open houses take place on the second Sunday of the month from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the women said.
This week's tour will include allowing guests to pull the rope of the original bell, reliving the time when students were called to the start of the day. The bell can be heard for more than a mile, Crawford stated.
Many books from the early 1900s line the shelves of the museum, along with 1908 McGuffy Readers and charts.
Since paper was expensive in the 1800s, students used slabs of slate and slate pencils made of clay. Paper was saved for penmanship lessons, which used quills dipped in ink to practice cursive writing.
Other items within the schoolhouse include the original lesson charts used to educate pupils in reading and English; a paddle placed next to the front door as a reminder of the punishments children received if disobeying in class; and a dunce cap and stool where those who were punished were forced to sit in front of the class, as they were declared an "idiot" -- the meaning of "dunce," by the classroom teacher.
Crawford, along with former school teachers Joyce Zimmerman and Avis Henry, dress in the style of teachers who taught in the 1800s.
It is a reminder the schoolhouse once housed approximately 48 students and just one teacher -- usually around the age of 14. The first few rows of desks belonged to younger pupils, known as abecedarians, because they learned their ABCs.
Visitors also will notice a blackboard at the front entrance containing only cursive writing, as children did not print in those times.
The center of the blackboard contains the words to "God Bless America" sung at the start of each day and a flag for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, said each morning.