S Road School Restoration project SBHS plans for restoration and use of the last one-room schoolhouse in the town

a. S ROAD SCHOOL RESTORATION

PURPOSE

The PURPOSE of restoration is to make the last remaining one-room schoolhouse in South Bristol suitable for use as an educational resource and museum. South Bristol School classes will be invited to come to the school to experience a day at school in the 1930's. A small portion of the room will be devoted to exhibits about school days in South Bristol. The proximity of the schoolhouse to the Thompson Ice House will create an interesting mini historical district preserving South Bristol's past.

b. RESTORATION

WORK on the ACTUAL STRUCTURE will include at least the following:

• Jacking and raising the building in order to repair the foundation
• Repairing a portion of the sill, replacing girts, resetting the foundation
• Roof and window repairs
• Interior painting
• Clapboard replacement and exterior painting
• Installation of electric service and outlets
• Additional doors
• Removal of trees
• Constructing privy building

• RESTORING the schoolroom will include obtaining at least the following:
• 8 to 10 student desks (each seating 2 students)
• Light fixtures
• Teacher's desk
• Teaching materials such as maps, pointer, pencil sharpener
• Student supplies such as pencils, pens, paper
• Flag and flag pole
• Wood-burning stove
• Display cases or shelves

• Additional PRESERVATION equipment:
• De-humidifier and humidistat
• Fire alarm

c. HISTORY OF THE S ROAD SCHOOL

The S Road School, also known at various times as District 5, the Neck, Main, or Roosevelt, was constructed in 1860 for the sum of $600. This building replaced a "poor schoolhouse" that was on the 1857 Map of Lincoln County. The present building was originally located on McFarland Cove Road but at some point was moved to the eastern side of Rt.129 and from there to its present location on the corner of Rt. 129 and the S Road. "By 1895, enrollment was about 16 but rose to the mid-twenties after other schools closed in the early 1900's. The place was fixed up in 1901 and again in 1918. Upon the death of the teacher in 1943, the school was closed due to lack of a replacement and never reopened." from Woodstoves & Backhouses, by Philip Averill

Sarah Emery taught at the S Road School in 1906 and possibly 1907, then at the school on Rutherford Island in 1908, '09 and '10. She received a degree from the Eastern State Normal School at Castine in 1912. As related by Sarah Emery in interviews with Richard Hawkins in 1975, she attended Castine Normal School in the summer of 1914 and learned how "to make teaching rural children more interesting. They studied such things as how to operate a Victrola." Upon returning to teach at the S Road School in 1915, Sarah recalled in the 1975 interviews that "electricity had been in. I went to the [Thompson] hotel down here and they gave me lamps to go around, probably a half dozen maybeÉNot too many, but it would light the room." Before electricity, "there were no lights. When it was a thunderstorm we couldn't see to study." Miss Emery continued teaching at the S Road School through the 1935 school year, with the exception of 1923 when she was on leave.

d. THE 1930'S SCHOOLROOM

Help us re-create the 1930's schoolroom. The following is a list of what students saw everyday - their desks, what was on the walls around the room, on the teacher's desk - start searching your attic and flea markets and antique shops! If you have an item that was actually in the schoolhouse and are reluctant to give it up, please give us a photograph of it so we can try to acquire a similar item.
We need:

• 8 to 10 two-person wood/iron student desks with shared inkwell from early 1900s (see image) (as of 9/15/07, SBHS has 4 such desks and one single desk, thanks to the Francis Faust, Kornahrens, and Weiss families)
• Early 1900s teacher's desk
• Large color print of George Washington for the wall
• Small child's table and chairs or bench to seat several students
• Crank-type pencil sharpener
• Pointer that teacher used at blackboard (Received - thanks to Herb and Ann Sears)
• Rulers
• Clock
• Dunce hat & stool
• Pencils
• Dip pens, pen nibs, pen wipers
• lunch boxes
• 48-star U.S. flag and flag staff
• Chalk
• Water dipper and bucket
• Roll-up hanging map of world/U.S.
• Bible
• Wood Stove - long enough for logs to fit lengthwise
• Globe showing world of 1930
• Pitch pipe
• Window shades - buff one side, green the other

Special S Road School Project Fund:

• Formation of S Road School Restoration Committee:
  The SBHS is pleased to announce the formation of the S Road School Restoration Committee, made up of men and women who are enthusiastic supporters of the restoration plan.
  The Committee is as follows:
  

  Chairman	Donna F. Plummer
  Honorary Co-Chairman	Barbara T. Hamlin
  Committee:	Lois C. Drukker
  	Bruce A. Farrin
  	Ramona T. Gaudette *
  	Betsy C. Graves
  	Linda B. Johnson
  	Margaret Macy-Peterson
  	Judith Manchester
  	Alden McFarland
  	Katherine Poole Norwood *
  	Amy Rice Poole *
  	Ann M. Sears
  	Grant W. Wheeler

  
  * S Road School graduates
  
  • The Committee asks you to consider making a Contribution to the S Road School Restoration:
    
  • Please fill out the form below and return the form and your check to SBHS, P. O. Box 229, South Bristol, ME 04568. Your support will be greatly appreciated.
    
    
    

    

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