West of Canton is this white painted brick schoolhouse. A historical marker stands nearby and reads:

In 1876 this Italianate schoolhouse replaced a log school, built in 1836 and known officially as Canton Fractional No. 1 School. In 1944 Henry Ford, who operated a small factory in Cherry Hill, paid for an addition to this building, as well as for the salary for a second teacher. The school became part of Ford’s Greenfield Village School System where students benefitted from art, music, and dance curricula. Cherry Hill School was absorbed by the Plymouth School District in 1955.

What the marker does not mention is that the small Ford factory in Cherry Hill mainly hired workers that were disabled. Many of them veterans of WWII. At one time Ford had employed 12,000 disabled workers at Cherry Hill and provided living quarters, education and career training.

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This old yellow brick schoolhouse stands in the middle of the thumb near Cass City. It is or was the Freiburg School. It looks as if it has been a long time since classes were held in this school. It is privately owned and I took a few pics from the road.

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This old schoolhouse sits south of Cadillac near M-115. The stone over the door reads: Dist No. 5 Clam Lake 1908. It was one of the earliest places I photographed for Lost In Michigan about 8 years ago while on a trip with my family. Since then I think it has been used as a daycare, realtor office and an antique shop. Since it is close to M-115 I see it frequently.

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This faded green two-story school sits empty in the town of Copemish. It was built in 1910 replacing a school that burned down in a fire on the same site. There were not enough elementary students to utilize the second floor. It was used as a high school and a gymnasium was built next to the school. The Copemesh Cyclones were county champions in basketball several times and in 1950 made it to the state finals losing to Fowler. By 1960 the school was not able to serve its function like many modern schools of the time. The parents of the students decided to merge with Benzie Central School District and in 1963 this old building saw students for the final time.

P.S. If you live in the Saginaw area I will be at the Arthur Hill High School Holiday Bazaar selling books Saturday, December 4th from 9-3. If you are in the area I hope you will stop by and say hello.

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I saw this old school hidden among the trees somewhere northwest of Harrisville. I saw that it was listed as the Pine School and was in use from 1901 to 1945. Other than that, I don’t know much about it. It looks as if it has been a long time since any lessons were taught in this old school.

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I came across this old schoolhouse west of Romeo. I found out it was in Washington Township and called the Thorington school. When I looked on google maps it shows the name of Thoringtonville. I looked for some history of the town, and I could not find any. I looked in my reference books but it was not listed. I am thinking the town never had a post office since that is what usually identified most towns in Michigan.  Maybe the little town is lost to history, but the old school still stands.
Note: I do not trespass and take my photos from public roads.

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This historic old schoolhouse made from fieldstones sits in Otsego County northwest of Gaylord. From what I found out it is known as Shaff School.

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This two-story wooden school stands in downtown Douglas. It was constructed in 1866 and is one of Michigan’s oldest union schools. In 1843, the state of Michigan adopted a law authorizing separate school districts, located within a township that contained a city or village, to merge into a “union” district.  Districts 3 and 4 of Saugatuck Township merged into a union district and used the school building which stands to this day. It had one female and one male teacher when it opened for the first school year. The school closed in 1957 and the bell was removed and hung in the new elementary school. In the 1960s the building was converted into apartments. In 2007, the Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society acquired the building and substantially renovated it, turning it into the Old School House History Center.

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Driving around the farm fields east of Shepherd I came across this old building which looked like a schoolhouse or church or township hall or maybe all the above.  I took a few pics and then when I got back home I looked it up on google and found out it was in the township of Coe which was named after Lieutenant Governor George A. Coe in 1855.

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