Location: 43.62359, -82.91693, at the northeast corner of Freiburger Rd and Cumber Rd.
Freiberger School (Graded School District No 1, Austin Twp) was a two-room schoolhouse built of yellow brick on a concrete foundation. It was an L-shaped building with a prominent arched vestibule covering the front door near the corner, and a classroom running down each leg of the L, each with four large windows. One of the windows in each classroom has been converted to an emergency-exit door. The bell-tower still stands above the vestibule and front door, but no longer holds a bell. Decorative brickwork arches are above each window, and the front vestibule features a massive 3-row arch of bricks. It appears that during September of 2022 the building is being restored.
My friend, Glen Suszko, pointed this schoolhouse out to me. Thanks for that, Glen. His family member who recently died went to this school in the 1950s.
I was able to revisit this schoolhouse in March 2024. The current owner wants to restore the building but doesn't have the funds to do so, so this school sits idle, with holes in the roof, missing bricks and some major foundation cracks. I hope she is able to come up with the funds to at least slow the building's demise. I've failed to get a good photo of this schoolhouse... in the 1st photo below the schoolroom going off to the right is obvious, but the 2nd schoolroom goes toward the back and is not shown. I did a better job showing that in the 1st photo above. The 3rd photo shows the inside of the entry alcove where students carved their names into the bricks. The 4th through 7th photos show the roof decay that I fear will destroy the building if left unrepaired.
