Akron Townhouse School
For over 250 years in this country (from 1700 to the 1950’s) one room school houses dotted this land from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Pacific Coast. More than seven generations were educated in these one room schools.They looked very different in different parts of the country. The early schools in the East were log cabins; on the prairie they were typically simple wood buildings; on the plains where trees were scarce schools were often dugouts or soddies; in the Southwest adobe was a common building material; and in the Northwest where wood was plentiful, they were typically log or plank schools.
Generally, one-room schools were simple, no-frills structures. Supplies were often scarce and the curriculum quite basic – reading, writing and arithmetic. In most schools there was one teacher for grades first through eighth, and he or she taught all subjects, in addition to maintaining the school building and instructing students in manners, values, and morals.
In the early days, there might have been 7 to 10 miles between schools – but by the late 1800’s to 1920’s one room schools sprang up all over rural America until, in the 1930’s, there was typically a one room school every 2 to 2 ½ miles in the Midwest. A child supposedly was not to have to walk more than two miles to get to school. This was evidenced by the fact that in the present Princeville School District alone there were 18 of these little schools. The names may be familiar: Akron Townhouse, Bell Tree, Blue, Good Hope, Greenbush, Gruner, Nelson, Park School, Potter, Summit, Timmons, White’s Grove, and Wilson.
The Akron Townhouse School, located on the Princeville Heritage Museum property, was typical of one room schools in the Midwest. Originally it sat 3 miles east of town on Bob and John Wieland’s property, at the corner of the highway and Rice Road. It opened its doors in 1900 and closed in 1958. It was the last one-room school house in Peoria County to close. After closing its doors as a school in ’58, it served as a church for 15 years, then as a meeting hall and polling place – and then finally in the 80’s and 90’s it was used as a storage shed and catch – all. It fell into disrepair during that time until a group of concerned citizens formed a committee to save the Akron Townhouse School in 2003.
It was moved into town and restored in the winter of 2004, and today is an important part of the Princeville Heritage Museum complex. Individuals and groups frequently visit the little school; different community events and activities are held there; and half day classes of old-fashioned instruction are offered to students in the surrounding school districts, so children can have a first - hand experience of what it might have been like to attend a one room country school in the Midwest 100 years ago.
One-room schools were an important part of our country’s history and heritage – and the Princeville Historical Association of Princeville believes a part worth saving. It is the hope of the school house committee that it has been able to realize its goal of “Giving The Past A Future”.
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Princeville Heritage Museum
325 N. Ostrom Avenue | Princeville, IL 61559 | 309-385-1916
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 10am - 2pm and by appointment