Dixboro School, Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan

Location: 42.31258, -83.65646, at 5221 Church Rd, Ann Arbor, MI.

Dixboro School (Superior Township & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No 2) was built in about 1888 for $1200, replacing one built in the early 1830's, and was in use until 1958. Dixboro was founded in 1824 by John Dix, and the schoolhouse stands on land set aside in the original village plat of 1826 as "a public square to be used for construction of a school and church". (The church stands behind the school, but is not the subject of this website.) This rectangular red-brick schoolhouse on a fieldstone foundation features a bell tower with a school bell inside, dental brickwork under the eaves, a merry-go-round in the front yard, a large arched front door with two large arched windows on either side, and 3 large arched windows on each side to let in the light students required for their studies and learning. Projecting brickwork separates the three windows on each side from each other and is used in the dental brickwork under the eaves. The brick arches above and beside each window and door is also projecting, but less so than those mentioned before. There is a keystone over each door and window, and the windows have a concrete medallion on each side, where the arches become straight sides. The school identification sign over the front door clearly reads "1888, Fractional School Dist. No. 2 Superior & Ann Arbor.". The school has been so well preserved because the Dixboro United Methodist Church purchased it and has paid for its upkeep.

    
Dixboro School (officially named Superior & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No. 2), built at a cost of $1200 in 1888, closed in 1958. Now located in a public park at Plymouth Road and Cherry Hill Road in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan
    
Dixboro School (officially named Superior & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No. 2), built at a cost of $1200 in 1888, closed in 1958. Now located in a public park at Plymouth Road and Cherry Hill Road in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan
    
Dixboro School (officially named Superior & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No. 2), built at a cost of $1200 in 1888, closed in 1958. Now located in a public park at Plymouth Road and Cherry Hill Road in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan
    
Dixboro School (officially named Superior & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No. 2), built at a cost of $1200 in 1888, closed in 1958. Now located in a public park at Plymouth Road and Cherry Hill Road in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan
    
Dixboro School (officially named Superior & Ann Arbor Fractional School District No. 2), built at a cost of $1200 in 1888, closed in 1958. Now located in a public park at Plymouth Road and Cherry Hill Road in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan

To my untrained eye, Dixboro School is practically identical to Geer School, which is just 5 miles east of here on Plymouth Road. So if there's something here you don't understand in my pictures and descriptions, read the attempt I've made on that other school's page; it might help you. Half way between the two, also on Plymouth Road, is the even more beautiful Frains Lake School. A 5-mile drive to see these 3 schools, among the most beautiful in the collection that I've surveyed, would be a real treat if you'd enjoy seeing these beautifully-restored brick schoolhouses.

Here's a past photo of Dixboro School:

    
Dixboro Schoolhouse Information from the Bess Britton One-Room Schoolhouse Collection at the Webster Memorial Library in Decatur, Michigan

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