The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Workers move schoolhouse, aim to restore it
History is being preserved in Penfield Township as a 19th-century oneroom schoolhouse recently was moved for restoration.
“We wanted to preserve one of the old, one-room schoolhouses that was used in the township back in the early days,” said Duane Johnson, a Penfield Township trustee. “The schoolhouse was taken from a farm on Foster Road. The former owner was using the structure as a garage.”
Johnson said the schoolhouse was going to be removed, so the Penfield Historical Society stepped in.
Bill Kies, president of the Penfield Historical Society, led the process with a lot of volunteer hours to move the structure, Johnson said.
“It was an opportunity to keep a big part of our history,” he said. “The school house has been moved to the property right by the Penfield Township Town Hall (41012 state Route 18).”
The beginning
Kies said the schoolhouse was built in the late 1840s.
“It served as a one-room schoolhouse until 1918,” he said. “That’s when all the one-room school houses in the township consolidated into one brick building.”
Kies said the schoolhouse is one of the last remaining from the early days of the township.
“It was one of those things we knew about and the owner donated it to use,” he said. “We then got into the project and we did a lot ourselves with folks volunteering to get the building ready to be moved.”
Kies said the Penfield Historical Society received some help in moving the schoolhouse.
“Jim Klier (Klier Structural Movers) helped by actually moving the building on Thursday (Jan. 16),” he said. “We did a lot to the prep work with the foundation by laying down 8-inch blocks.”
Moving the schoolhouse was a tough task, but there is a lot more work to do, Kies said.
“The big thing that needs to happen is improving the foundation,” he said. “Beneath the structure, you have some old wood that is rotting.”
In good shape
Kies said the inside is in pretty good shape.
“The interior walls, windows ceiling and roof are all good and authentic to the time,” he said. “We do need to put a floor in; there isn’t one in the building.
“I actually have some flooring from the 1800s that was donated to the Historical Society. The building was also used as a garage and we need to remove the garage door, and replace that spot to fit in with the schoolhouse-era design. I have a lot of old pictures of schoolhouses, and that is what I’m going off of.”
Kies said the restoration of the schoolhouse is for educational purposes.
“The hope is that kids learn the history of their home and what it was like to go to school in the day,” he said. “I want them to see how different it is now and the struggle that it was back then.
“Kids had to walk to school back then, so there’s a lot of different things you can teach. We could also hold reenactments of what it was like to go to school in the one-room schoolhouse.”
Kies said there also are items he needs to add on the inside.
“We need to get the desks in there,” he said. “In those days, they used benches and tables. Desks weren’t implemented in schools until 1850s.”
Kies said the schoolhouse is an example of how the Penfield community was split up.
“There used to be eight one-room schoolhouses,” he said. “The schoolhouse was positioned about a mile and half from each other so kids, who had to walk to school, did not have to travel too far.
“Two were repurposed as homes, so this is the only one that will be set up like it was.”
Moving the building
Klier said his company has experience moving older buildings, and this project wasn’t too difficult.
“We have already done this for Pittsfield, Chatham, Huntington and the Lorain County Fair by moving a structure from the old Fairgrounds, in Elyria, to the new fairgrounds in Wellington,” he said. “It’s something we have done before, so we know what to do.
“We knew what to do and how to approach it. A lot of what we do is lift up homes so work can be done foundationally and in the basement. We have, however, done plenty of these older building moves, and we know how to do it safely.
“The prep took longer and we had to get a permit before moving it. We actually moved it about two and half miles on Foster Road and then on Route 18. It should be interesting to see how they restore it; they are very passionate about it and it will be pretty cool when it’s done.”