Schools Archives - Page 4 of 6

The School In the Forest

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Schools .

Hidden among the trees is this old forgotten school. It is in the town of Forester on the shoreline of Lake Huron in the Thumb. Forester’s most well-known resident is Minnie Quay who committed suicide after she found out her lover’s ship sank while sailing the Great Lakes. You can read more about her HERE

I have driven through the town of Forester many times since M-25 passes through it. I never noticed this school before because it is covered by the foliage during the summer months. It is a rather spooky looking school, And I am sure it was a school because of the rusty old playground equipment next to it. I am thinking Minnie never attended this school since it looks as if it was built after she died.

Note: I took this pic from the road and do not trespass. It may not be used anymore someone still owns it.

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The Old School in the Trees

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

Hidden among the trees and snow is an old brick schoolhouse I saw not far from the small town of Eagle. Researching the internets I found out that it is or was Brown School. It was built in 1910 to replace a log cabin school that was built in 1837 that had burned down in a fire. The town and township that it resides in were named after Eagle Falls New York where the early settlers came from. Revolutionary War veteran Joshua Simmons II is laid to rest in the town’s cemetery.

P.S. I only take pics from the road and do not trespass. please be respectful of other people’s property if you visit this or any other abandoned place.

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Columbia Crossroads

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

A few miles south of Unionville is an old schoolhouse. Above the door is the lettering 1909 Columbia Dist. No. 2. Most of the old schools I find have the date when they were constructed, but I have never seen the date when they closed. I am not sure when this old schoolhouse last taught children inside its brick walls. However, I did find out that the school was part of a small town called Columbia Corners. The community started in 1854 and it had a post office from 1879 until 1903. Not much of the town exists today, but I wonder how many kids learned to read and write in the little schoolhouse.

P.S. My daughter’s school is on their 11th snow day this year. I wonder how many snow days this old school has seen? Times sure have changed in the past 100 years.

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The Old School House in Loomis

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools, small towns .

I saw this old schoolhouse in the community of Loomis east of Clare near U.S.-10. The town was originally named Buchtel with A station on the Pere Marquette railroad and post office. The name changed in 1871 when Erastus G. Loomis, George W. Wise and E. F. Gould built a sawmill and general store and platted the village. Wise Township that Loomis is located in, is named after George W. Wise.

It’s another bone-chilling cold day in Michigan and my daughter is home from school. As soon as the decision is made to cancel school I get an email and a phone call on my camera phone. When I was a kid I remember having to listen to the radio waiting for the DJ to read off a list of schools. Back then they did not have computers to alphabetize the list so they would read them in the order the cancellations came in. Since I went to a school in the city it was one of the last schools to close. Most of the rural districts closed first so everytime they read the list I would have to wait until the end to see if my school was closed. ” dang it, it’s not closed yet” I guess I will have to listen to John Cougar’s Jack and Diane and then hopefully they will read the list again. I figure back in the olden days they went to school because they had no way of telling them not to.

I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are at, and thank you for taking the time to read my posts.

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The School House in Eden

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

The Township of Eden on the west side of the state located in Mason and Lake County is mostly rural farmland. I saw this old school house surrounded by the farm fields, like it is still waiting for students to come through the door. Carved in the stone above the door is Eden Dist No.2 1892. I grew up in the big city and so did my parents and grand parents. They walked to school and growing up in the 70’s I walked to and from school on days when the weather was decent. I could not imagine the kids walking to school in the winter with the winds howling across the empty farm fields. It’s not like they had busses and cars in the 1890’s. I suppose they could hitch up the horse to the wagon. I wonder if they had remote start on the horses back then.

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The Oldest School

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

The Sessions Schoolhouse is the oldest cobblestone schoolhouse still standing in Michigan and possibly the oldest one-room schoolhouse in the state. The School was built with local fieldstone by Alanzo Session, a New York school teacher who moved to the Ionia area. He built the school on his property to educate the local children. Session’s house is gone, but the old schoolhouse still stands in the northern part of Ionia State Recreation Area.

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The Michigan Ghost Town of Fern

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, Schools .

The ruins of this two-story schoolhouse stand along the road in rural Mason County watching the farmers work the fields. Above the entrance is a carved stone that reads: FERN SCHOOL DIST. 3 1906. It’s all that remains of the town of Fern. The town was built around a sawmill owned by J.S. Adams in Eden Township. A station was built on the Mason and Oceana railroad in 1886 and in 1888 It was given a post office. I am not sure why it was named Fern, but the town must have prospered to build a two-story brick schoolhouse, considering most of the school houses I see left standing are simple single-story wooden structures. A year after the school was built the town’s post office closed. Probably because the Post Office switched to its rural free delivery system. After the timber was gone, the mill must have closed along with the train depot, since there is no longer any tracks running near the old forgotten school. The school closed in 1959 and it stands eerily empty remembering the days when the children of Fern came to visit.

Please note. I enjoy seeing these old forgotten places from the road, Please be respectful and do not trespass.

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Getting Lost In Lakeview

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Schools .

Last week I got to Lakeview a little early for my presentation and I had some time to kill. I went for a drive to see what I could find on a dreary autumn day. Southwest of Lakeview I saw this old schoolhouse hidden in the trees. I am not sure how I manage to come across these places unexpectedly, but I figure I should photograph them before they are lost to history. I looked on an old plat map and it shows a South Baker School. I am not certain it is this school, but maybe.

P.S. I have had a few people ask me about doing a presentation near their hometown. I don’t actively contact places about doing presentations. Most places reach out to me to come and visit. Check with your local historical society or library and see if they have a meeting room or someplace for me to do a slideshow, and I would be happy to come out and give a presentation. If it’s within an hour drive from Saginaw I don’t charge anything. If it’s farther away I would just need a little help for gas money if it’s in the budget.

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The Dissaperance of Thoringtonville

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

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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The Little Red Schoolhouse

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

The West Dayton District No. 2 schoolhouse located at the Mayville History Museum on M24. I find a lot of old schoolhouses located all around the state. As far as I know, none are being used for daily school but I have found some that have been moved and saved by historical societies. Although the school kids don’t show up every day to this school with their lunch buckets, it’s nice to see they it was saved so school kids can go on a field trip to little old school house. It’s still teaching kids and sharing knowledge by telling stories of the past.

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