DE WITT SCHOOL

Built in 1891, DeWitt School typifies the one-room schools of the turn of the century. It stands on an acre of land that was donated by the DeWitt and Bosch families. Classes for grades one through eight were held in it until 1957. At one time, a single teacher taught from twenty-five to forty students by holding one ten-minute session per subject for each of the eight grades.
The original school district covered approximately four square miles and many children walked more than two miles to and room school daily. Nearly two decades after the school closed, planning began for restoring it as a living museum for area school children. By 1979 the classroom resembled its 1891 appearance, featuring gas lights, a wood stove, an octagonal clock, a hanging glove, lunch pails and desks

Transcriber: Evelyn Sawyer
Created: 12 July 2004
URL: http://ottawa.migenweb.net/schools/springlake/dewitt.html