Aiming to restore Springfield schoolhouse, pair researches its origin
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Don Whitney (left) and Bill Mitchell are helping the efforts to renovate one of the oldest schoolhouses in Vermont in Springfield. Vyto Starinskas / Rutland Herald |
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By SUSAN SMALLHEER Rutland Herald Staff - Published: November 9, 2009
SPRINGFIELD – Two Springfield men think they might be on the brink of a great historical discovery – at least to Springfield.
The Spencer Hollow School, which is generally acknowledged to be the oldest brick one-room schoolhouse in the state, might be even older than the 1785-1790 Eureka Schoolhouse, currently described by state historians as the oldest one-room Vermont school.
Both schoolhouses are in Springfield, so the town wouldn't have to give up bragging rights.
The Spencer Hollow School may have been built as early as 1781, Don Whitney said, citing Eva Baker's book, "Folklore of Springfield, Vermont," which was published in 1922. Considered the bible of early historic information, the Baker book does says that the "date of the building is uncertain."
But she goes on that in an early settler's papers, she found this note: "The schoolhouse near Mr. Chase's was not built until about 1781."
And to add credence to that possible claim, school records show that it needed repair by 1801, and at that time, there was still a debt left over from its original construction, Whitney says.
Whitney and his friend Bill Mitchell are getting some professional help writing the town-sanctioned application for the schoolhouse's inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, and maybe, with help, they can get to the bottom of Spencer Hollow's date. A National Register of Historic Places designation would make the town-owned school eligible for major restoration grants, too. The two men are hoping for a complete restoration of the schoolhouse; a few years ago, it was listed as needing about $70,000 in repairs.
Baker's book notes that school was only held briefly every year in Spencer Hollow, which was District No. 6 out of 14 school districts in the town. Records note townspeople voted to hold school for only three months – in winter.
According to Baker's book, tuition was paid in cord wood – "a fourth of a cord of wood for each scholar."
Whitney believes that the brick used for the school was made in Springfield, in fact, just down the road. Recent work revealed the bases of old brick kilns across Spencer Hollow Road from the Ferguson dairy farm, he said.
The school hasn't been used as a schoolhouse for about 80 years, but was used as a community center until it fell into major disrepair about 40 years ago. In recent years, vandals had a field day, busting out the windows and stealing the old potbelly stove.
The construction of the Eureka Schoolhouse, which is a state-owned historic site, is believed to have been started in 1785 and finished in 1790. Dilapidated and all but abandoned, the Eureka Schoolhouse was disassembled and rebuilt at its current location on Route 106 in the 1960s.
It is one of the few surviving 18th century public buildings in the state, according to the Division for Historic Preservation's Web site.
Whitney grew up in the Spencer Hollow district of Springfield but didn't attend the school, since it closed before he was school age. Mitchell lives down the road from the schoolhouse.
Together, they have rallied volunteers to do some immediate repairs. Whitney, an amateur woodworker, is repairing several of the vandalized windows. Earlier this summer, Whitney fixed the bottom rail on the schoolhouse's front door.
Others have painted the ell that was built later than the original brick building. Last year, the brush that had grown up around the school was cut back.
Whitney said he hoped to hear by December whether the town receives a $9,000 grant to help repair the slate roof, which is an immediate concern. Currently, the roof lacks a ridge cap, but local businessman Donald Gurney has promised to help with that before winter, Whitney said.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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