Location: 41.91931, -85.43964, at 26456 East M-86, Nottawa, MI.
Nottawa Stone School (Nottawa District No 3) is fieldstone schoolhouse built in 1870 at a cost of about $3000 by J. W. Schermerhorn, who designed this school building from the school he attended as a boy in Schenectady, New York. He included his name in the keystone in the arch above the front door. The school has a gable roof and doors and windows rounded on top with an arch. The arches above the door and windows are made from fieldstones cut to be shaped like bricks, radiating upward from the center of the windows. The windows have exterior shutters that include arched tops. There are 3 large windows on each side of the schoolhouse, a centered front door with a semicircular transom window to let in light, and a window on either side of the door. A bell tower still exists. The school replaced a frame structure which was deemed too dilapidated to continue service. A second schoolroom made of brick was added in 1880, making the school L-shaped. The school was in use until 1961, when it became a storage facility for wood and coal. It was scheduled to be razed in 1968, but was purchased for $1 and restored to become a living museum. As of 2017 it still serves that purpose as children visit the school on field trips to learn what school was like in the past.
Nottawa Stone School, School District No. 3 (1870-1950 or 1961), 26456 East M-86, Nottawa, Michigan, in St. Joseph County (J. W. Schermerhorn, builder, 1870, designed this school building from the school he attended as a boy in Schenectady, New York). The school replaced a frame structure and after closing, became a storage facility for wood and coal, and was scheduled to be razed in 1968, but was purchased for $1 and restored to become a living museum.
Nottawa Stone School, School District No. 3 (1870-1950 or 1961), 26456 East M-86, Nottawa, Michigan, in St. Joseph County (J. W. Schermerhorn, builder, 1870, designed this school building from the school he attended as a boy in Schenectady, New York). The school replaced a frame structure and after closing, became a storage facility for wood and coal, and was scheduled to be razed in 1968, but was purchased for $1 and restored to become a living museum.
Nottawa Stone School, School District No. 3 (1870-1950 or 1961), 26456 East M-86, Nottawa, Michigan, in St. Joseph County (J. W. Schermerhorn, builder, 1870, designed this school building from the school he attended as a boy in Schenectady, New York). The school replaced a frame structure and after closing, became a storage facility for wood and coal, and was scheduled to be razed in 1968, but was purchased for $1 and restored to become a living museum.
Nottawa Stone School, School District No. 3 (1870-1950 or 1961), 26456 East M-86, Nottawa, Michigan, in St. Joseph County (J. W. Schermerhorn, builder, 1870, designed this school building from the school he attended as a boy in Schenectady, New York). The school replaced a frame structure and after closing, became a storage facility for wood and coal, and was scheduled to be razed in 1968, but was purchased for $1 and restored to become a living museum.
Nottawa Stone School, School District No. 3 (1870-1950 or 1961), 26456 East M-86, Nottawa, Michigan, in St. Joseph County (J. W. Schermerhorn, builder, 1870, designed this school building from the school he attended as a boy in Schenectady, New York). The school replaced a frame structure and after closing, became a storage facility for wood and coal, and was scheduled to be razed in 1968, but was purchased for $1 and restored to become a living museum.
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