The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
First school building in city is open for tour
The Little Red Schoolhouse is a one-room schoolhouse and also was the first in Oberlin to be integrated.
The Oberlin Heritage Center is conducting tours of the city’s oldest school building.
The Little Red Schoolhouse, now located at the Heritage Center’s property, 20 W. Vine St., is a oneroom schoolhouse and also was the first in Oberlin to be integrated.
“It was a very progressive move, for sure,” said Amanda Manahan, museum education and tour coordinator. “Oberlin has typically been progressive, and it was something that you were seeing at the time.
“I feel the decision to integrate at Oberlin College in 1835, had a huge influence in the decision. This school was built in 1836, so it came after that decision and was no doubt impacted by it.”
Manahan said a larger A look at the outside of the schoolhouse.
point of contention was whether there needed to be a school in the first place.
“Citizens weren’t completely behind the idea at the time,” she said. “It’s not like today, where you see school districts within the cities.
“Some did not see the need for having a building
solely dedicated to the education of young children. The building was not designed for any other use, so some felt it was a needless expenditure.”
Classes often were held in other public buildings, or teachers would travel around at the time, Manahan said.
So, it took some convincing to have a building put up solely for child education, she said.
The building, dedicated for the education of 5 to 15 year olds, cost $215 to build, Manahan said.
“It was good amount of money for the time,” she said. “Sadly, it was almost out of date by the time they finished it.
“It was already too small for the kids they needed to service. The school was not used after 1851, and was replaced by a two-story building.”
Manahan said the school originally was in another location.
“The school, during its years of operation, was located on the north edge of Tappan Square (at the corner around the intersection of present day state Route 58 and state Route 511),” she said. “Fortunately, it was later moved here so it could be preserved.
“The building was loaded up on a trailer and moved that way. The Oberlin Historical Society and the Oberlin Vigil Improvement Society did a great job at the time of arranging the inside to model the original thing. The city wanted to use the land, so it had to move to be saved.”
Manahan said the building still is used to educate students of the past.
“Oberlin Schools bring their third graders here once a year,” she said. “They make a big event of it and have them dress up like the old days and simulate a class how it was conducted back then. They get a sense of what life was like.”
Tours of the school can be conducted by stopping by the Heritage Center from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
For more information, call the Heritage Center at 440-774-1700.