Location: 42.98370, -84.12633, in McCurdy Park and Historical Village, Corunna, Michigan.
Lemon School (Shiawasee District No 8) was built about 1870 on the northeast corner of Garrison and Scribner Roads to replace a log schoolhouse which was built as a home in 1853 and converted into a school in 1867 (pictured at bottom of page). It was named after the James Lemon family who lived nearby. The school operated until the 1930s when it was closed. The schoolhouse was given to Shiawasee Township who let the 4H clubs use it for a meeting place. In 1990 the township sold the school to the Shiawasee County Historical Society for $1.00. It was moved in 1991 into the new Shiawasee Valley Historical Village (now called McCurdy Park and Historical Village) and restored into a rural school museum. This rectangular wood-frame school was being re-roofed in 2017 when I visited. It is painted white with green trim shutters around the windows. There is an intact bell tower with a school bell inside. There are 3 windows on each side, a centered single front door, and a window on either side of that door.
The schoolhouse originally had 3 windows on each side, but were changed to 5 on the sunny side and 1 on the other as required for a Standard School about 1919. They have now been moved back to their original positions.
When the school was built it had wood siding over the outer frame work, and lath and plaster inside. In the late 1890s the building was sealed on the inside with horizontal lumber, probably to keep out the cold. This lumber has been removed, and also the lath and plaster. It has been wired for electricity, insulated, dry walled and painted. The entry and coat rooms have been restored with the lumber intact as a reminder of what the interior once was like. The old coal-wood furnace of 1920 remains and is probably the only furnace of that type left in the state.
Here are two past photos of Lemon School, the first of which is of the original log schoolhouse used from 1867 until 1870:
