Michigan Schoolhouses

The Thorington Schoolhouse, in use 1859-1955, on Mound Road in Washington Township, Michigan

Thorington Schoolhouse

I've driven around Michigan (well, mainly Lower Michigan thus far) during 2012-2021 to photograph old one-room and two-room schoolhouses. My primary reason for doing this was to expose these schoolhouses to you, in the hope they'll be preserved if enough people see them and want them to be saved. If not, then at least my photographs might become a historical record for those that disappear silently, one by one (as Frog Mountain and Dryer have done just recently). I'd fantasized publishing a successor to Mary Keithan's superb "Michigan One-Room Schoolhouses" coffee table book, but I've decided it would be silly for me to pursue something that complex instead of the much simpler publication of this "Michigan Schoolhouses" web site. So here it is... photos from places destined to either crumble into the oblivion of history or, more hopefully, to be restored for historical education or modern re-use, along with whatever meager information about them I've been able to gather and communicate. I hope you enjoy perusing the site and find the photographs pleasing.

I've bolded the links for those schoolhouses I think are the most photographically worthy or for which I've been able to dig up substantial information, so you should start with those. I've provided GPS coordinates and/or addresses for the sites which are no longer active schools, and have not been converted into private residences (several schoolhouses, thank goodness, have been preserved by such a conversion) so you can go visit these sites for yourself in real life. If you live in metro Detroit, please see Geer School as a superb entry point into this exploration.

Once you view a particular schoolhouse's page, you can click any photo to make it larger, then click it again to put it back.

I've organized the list of schoolhouses into two sections: one by Michigan County Name (alphabetically), and the other list by the date the page was last updated on this web site, in case you want to follow along as I continue to build this site and update it with future visits, future discoveries, new information, or corrections.

Some of the information I've gathered about these schools is from the "Bess Britton One-Room Schoolhouse Collection" at the Webster Memorial Library in Decatur, Michigan, and I thank the library and librarian for granting me access to that information shortly before COVID-19 changed everything.

If you have any additional information about any of these schoolhouses, or know of a schoolhouse I've missed, please email me using the link at the bottom of this page so I can add it and preserve the history of these buildings for everyone. If you own one of these schoolhouses and want me to remove it's location information, or remove it entirely from this web site, email me and I will do so.

The list of schoolhouses by County within Michigan

Allegan County

Arenac County

Barry County

Bay County

Jacob Chapman School (Bangor District No 1)

Berrien County

Branch County

Calhoun County

Cass County

Clinton County

Eaton County

Genesee County

Gratiot County

Hillsdale County

Huron County

Ingham County

Ionia County

Isabella County

Bohannon School (Gerald L Poor School Museum)

Jackson County

Kalamazoo County

Kalkaska County

Crawford School

Kent County

Lapeer County

Leelanau County

Lenawee County

Livingston County

Washburn School

Macomb County

Midland County

Montcalm County

Muskegon County

Newaygo County

Garfield School

Oakland County

Ottawa County

Saginaw County

Smith School

Sanilac County

Shiawasee County

St Clair County

St Joseph County

Tuscola County

Van Buren County

Washtenaw County

Wayne County

The list of schoolhouses by Date of Update on This Web Site (NOT the date of photography)

2024-03-03 Freiberger School (Graded School District No 1, Austin Twp)
2024-03-03 Kingston School (Kingston School District No 1)
2024-01-02 Ross School
2023-06-02 Duck Lake School
2023-05-31 Weller School (Chesterfield District No 1)
2023-01-16 Pink School [St Clair County]
2023-01-16 Brownsville School No 1
2022-12-14 Pleasant Lake School in Freedom Township
2022-09-04 House School
2022-09-04 Red Public School
2022-09-04 Kilmanagh School
2022-09-04 Moshier School
2022-09-04 Dayton District No 3 School
2021-10-28 Andrews School (Shelby Fractional District No 4)
2021-10-28 Putnam School (Basswood School, Leland School, Sciota District No 3)
2021-10-27 Unknown School on M79
2021-10-27 Mt. Hope School (Waterloo District No 10)
2021-10-27 Flowerfield Fractional District No 1
2021-10-27 Edwards Corner School (Flowerfield Fractional District No 2)
2021-10-26 Rubicon District No 6 School
2021-10-26 Fallasburg School (Vergennes District No 1)
2021-10-26 Jewett School (Brownell School)
2021-10-26 Celery Flats School (Portage District No 8)
2021-10-26 Dibble School (Summit District No 2)
2021-10-25 Moe School
2021-10-25 Strong School (Mendon Fractional District No 1)
2021-10-25 Somerset Center School
2021-10-25 Silver Lake School (Woodstock District No 2)
2021-10-25 Springville School (Cambridge District No 1)
2021-10-24 Lee School (Hastings District No 7)
2021-10-24 Bean School
2021-10-24 East Liberty School (Liberty District No 7)
2021-10-24 Wooden Stone School (Cambridge District No 6)
2021-10-24 Close School
2021-10-23 Newburg School (Livonia District No 8)
2021-10-23 Beech Road School (Redford District No 5)
2021-10-23 South Salem Stone School
2021-10-23 Geer School (Superior & Salem Fractional District No 4)
2021-10-23 Frains Lake School (Superior School District No 2)
2021-10-23 Dixboro School (Superior Township & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No 2)
2021-10-23 Blaess School (Weber-Blaess and Downer School and Lodi District No 13)
2021-10-23 Wood School (Bangor Fractional District No 8)
2021-10-23 West Brick School (Bangor District No 6)
2021-10-23 Riverside School (Geneva District No 8)
2021-10-23 Jericho School (Geneva District No 3)
2021-10-23 Ackley School
2021-10-21 White Creek School
2021-10-21 North Grove School (North Grove District No 6)
2021-10-21 McKinley School
2021-10-21 Columbia School (Columbia District No 2)
2021-10-21 Nottawa Stone School (Nottawa District No 3)
2021-10-21 Big Stone School
2021-10-20 Forestville - Bay City School
2021-10-20 Delaware District No 6 School
2021-10-20 Delaware District No 3 School
2021-10-20 Ottawa School (Olive District No 1)
2021-10-20 Wash Oak School
2021-10-20 Poppleton School (Troy District No 8)
2021-10-20 Howarth School
2021-10-20 Garfield School
2021-10-20 Maple Ridge School (Laketon District No 7) [Muskegon County]
2021-10-20 Gaffield School
2021-10-20 District No 6 School
2021-10-20 Bush Creek School (Jasper District No 3)
2021-10-20 Thorington Schoolhouse
2021-10-20 Sikes School
2021-10-20 Romeo Country School
2021-10-20 Lowell/Sullivan Schoolhouse
2021-10-20 Halfway School (Erin-Warner Fractional District No 2)
2021-10-20 Dickens School
2021-10-20 Bunert School (Warren District No 4)
2021-10-19 Washburn School
2021-10-19 Drake School (Woodstock District No 4)
2021-10-19 Addison School (Woodstock District No 7)
2021-10-19 Shetland School
2021-10-19 Bingham District No 5 School
2021-10-19 Millville School
2021-10-19 Farmer's Creek School
2021-10-19 Marlette District No 2 School
2021-10-19 Clover School (Elba District No 3)
2021-10-19 Crawford School
2021-10-19 Brick School (G&P Fractional District No 1) [Kalamazoo County]
2021-10-19 Riceville School (Parma/Concord District No 10)
2021-10-19 Bohannon School (Gerald L Poor School Museum)
2021-10-19 Sessions School
2021-10-19 North LeValley School (Ionia District No 2)
2021-10-18 Moseley School
2021-10-18 Webb School (Aurelius District No 4)
2021-10-18 Alaiedon District No 1 School
2021-10-18 White Rock School
2021-10-18 Rock City School
2021-10-18 Grindstone City School (Port Austin District No 2)
2021-10-18 Big Burning School
2021-10-18 Ashmore School
2021-10-18 Green School
2021-10-18 Frost School (Lafayette District No 5)
2021-10-18 Stanley School (Genesee District No 4)
2021-10-18 Kitchen School
2021-10-18 Strange School (Oneida District No 3)
2021-10-18 Loucks School
2021-10-18 French School (Greenbush District No 8)
2021-10-17 Poe's Corner School (Newberg District No 2)
2021-10-17 Kellogg School
2021-10-17 Houston School (Fredonia District No 1)
2021-10-17 Boone School (Quincy District No 3)
2021-10-17 Spring Creek School (Three Oaks District No 3)
2021-10-17 Jefferson Red Brick School
2021-10-17 Brick School (Bainbridge District No 4) [Berrien County]
2021-10-17 Basswood School (Three Oaks District No 1)
2021-10-17 Bainbridge Center School (Bainbridge District No 7)
2021-10-17 Little Red School (Otsego District No 9)
2021-10-17 Brown School (North Pine Lake School) [Barry County]
2021-10-14 Geneva School (Penn District No 1)
2021-10-14 Duck Lake School
2021-10-13 Maple Ridge School (Clayton School District No 2) [Arenac County]
2021-10-13 Pickle Street School (Monterey District No 5)
2021-10-13 Peachbelt School (Ganges Fractional District No 1)
2021-10-13 Brown School [Allegan County]
2021-10-13 Delano School (Whitney District No 2)
2021-10-12 Thayer School (Northville Fractional District No 10)
2021-10-12 Cherry Hill School (Canton & Superior Fractional District No 1)
2021-10-12 Sharon School (Sharon District No 1)
2021-10-12 Old Stone School
2021-10-12 Geddes Town Hall School
2021-10-12 Kingston School (Kingston School District No 1)
2021-10-12 Keves School
2021-10-12 Clyde School
2021-10-12 Lemon School (Shiawasee District No 8)
2021-10-12 Unknown schoolhouse in Lamotte Township
2021-10-12 Marlette District No 10 School
2021-10-12 Laurel School
2021-10-12 Forester School
2021-10-12 Smith School
2021-10-12 Wing Lake School
2021-10-12 Stoney Creek School
2021-10-12 Arnold School (Addison District No 8)
2021-10-12 East Gilbert School
2021-10-11 Mill School
2021-10-11 Frog Mountain School (Warner School)
2021-10-11 Dryer Schoolhouse
2021-10-11 Red Brick School
2021-10-11 Vermilya School
2021-10-11 Gray School
2021-10-11 D R&B Fractional District No 8 School
2021-10-11 Williams School
2021-10-11 Coon School (Berlin District No 3)
2021-10-11 Eccles School (Sigel District No 4)
2021-10-11 Adams School (Sigel District No 3)
2021-10-11 Rooks School (Bethany District No 5)
2021-10-11 Herron School (Emerson District No 9)
2021-10-11 Brick School (Bethany District No 3) [Gratiot County]
2021-10-11 Monterey Center School (Heath District No 2)
2021-10-11 Salisbury School (Mason District No 5 School, Excelsior School)
2021-10-11 Capitol Hill School (Fourth Ward School)
2021-10-11 Bell Tower School (Oneida District No 4)
2021-10-10 Union School (Union District No 8)
2021-10-10 Juddville School (Judd’s Corners School, Hazelton District No 3)
2021-10-09 White School (Wayne Township School District No 7)
2021-10-09 Thompson's Corner School (Volinia District No 7)
2021-10-09 Unknown Schoolhouse on Thornapple Lake Rd
2021-10-09 Foster School
2021-10-08 Detray School
2021-10-08 Geneva Center School (Geneva Fractional District No 6)
2021-10-07 Ross School
2021-10-07 Ebeling School (Shady Lawn School)
2021-10-07 Crissman School
2021-10-05 Heldt School
2021-10-04 Davis School
2021-10-04 Peavine School (Pokagon District No 5)
2021-10-03 Hall School
2021-10-03 Unknown School in Freedom Township (now identified as Pleasant Lake School)
2021-10-01 Finkel School
2021-10-01 Peyok School
2021-10-01 Cole School
2021-10-01 Pinnebog School
2021-10-01 Unknown School at McKenzie And Thomas Roads
2021-10-01 Unknown School at Imlay City and Dorrow Roads
2021-10-01 Wadsworth School (Becking School)
2021-09-30 Indian Creek School
2021-09-30 Fishville School
2021-09-29 Shultz School
2021-09-29 Five Points School (Mason District No 4)
2021-09-25 Verona Mills School
2021-09-25 Snell School
2021-09-25 Valley School
2021-09-25 Ubly School (Bingham District No 4)
2021-09-24 Jacob Chapman School (Bangor District No 1)
2021-09-24 Octagon School (Shiawasee District No 9)
2021-09-24 Haynor School (Easton District No 8)
2021-09-24 Berlin District No 4 School (Ionia County Sheriff's Posse Club House)
2021-09-23 Barron Lake School (Brickell School, Brickle School, Howard District No 10 School)
2021-09-23 Tryon School
2021-09-22 Gardner School
2021-09-22 Merle Beach School (Muskrat Lake School, Olive District No 3)
2021-09-22 Jessie School
2021-09-21 Ferguson School
2021-09-21 Guy School
2021-09-19 Clarence District No 3 School
2021-09-19 Battle Creek School (Beckley School)
2021-09-18 South Allen District No 4 School
2021-09-18 Beebe School
2021-09-18 Sand Creek School (Litchfield District No 6)
2021-09-17 Wildwood School
2021-09-17 Wetmore School (Allegan District No 4)
2021-09-17 South Monterey School (Heath District No 1)
2021-10-11 Monterey Center School (Heath District No 2)
2021-09-16 Bowne Center School
2021-08-18 Rapson School
2021-08-18 Kipper School (Sigel District No 6)
2021-08-18 Church School (Lincoln District No 2)
2021-07-14 Mitchell School
2021-07-13 Unknown schoolhouse at Stone&Ruth
2021-06-24 Hawley School
2021-06-23 Unidentified School at 9316 Dixie Hwy

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