1889 - First Territorial School - Then and Now - Edmond, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 39.170 W 097° 28.723
14S E 637713 N 3946509
This one-room schoolhouse was the first public school building in Oklahoma Territory. It was built in 1889. The camera location is northeast of the schoolhouse.
Waymark Code: WMCRJJ
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 10/07/2011
Views: 14
In 1889, Edmond's first settlers arrived as part of the Land Run of April 22nd. Within weeks, a Ladies Aid Society was formed and the women began plans for a schoolhouse for their children. They ordered the lumber and construction was begun on this one-room schoolhouse at the intersection of 2nd Street and Boulevard. The building was completed in August of 1889 and the first class began on September 16, 1889, with 19 students.
The ladies held bake sales and other money-making projects and paid back the lumber yard in that first year. By 1899, ten years later, the town had outgrown its schoolhouse building, and it was sold for a residence. It remained so, for almost the next 100 years. At one point it was also Sanders Camera Shop. The story outlined on the museum plaques (see gallery) is fascinating. The Edmond Historic Preservation Trust took an interest in researching to confirm that this building was, indeed, the original schoolhouse. When this was documented, they began restoration of the school in 2003. Work was completed in April 2007.
The schoolhouse has been restored to its historic condition, including its bell cupola, its blackboards painted on the walls, and it is set up as an authentic one-room schoolhouse. The school is open on the first two Saturdays of each month from 1-4PM, and by appointment. Local schools make field trips to the schoolhouse and conduct lessons here. In the summer, the building is used for summer School Camps which are enormously popular.
The building sits just off the main drag in town – 2nd Street (or Edmond Road). This road was also part of historic Route 66 in days gone by. The Then and Now photos were taken at the northeast corner of the building, which faces north.
[The historic photos are on display at the Edmond Historical Society museum at 5th and Boulevard.]
Year photo was taken: 1890
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