One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room. There, a single teacher taught academic basics to several grade levels of elementary-age children. While in many areas one-room schools are no longer used, some remain in developing nations and rural or remote areas.
Cahill School is a one-room schoolhouse now located in Tupa Park near Minnesota State Highway 100 and Eden Avenue in Edina, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest remaining building in Edina, and served as a schoolhouse, church, community center, and theater over its 94-years in use. The school continued to be used with its woodstove and outhouse until it closed in 1958. It was moved to its present location from the southeast corner of Cahill Road and West 70th Street in 1970.
The Charter Oak Schoolhouse is a historic octagonal school building in Schuline, Illinois, located on the Evansville/Schuline Road between Schuline and Walsh. Built in 1873, it served as a public primary school until 1953. The school was one of 53 octagonal schoolhouses built in the United States, of which only three survive. The building is now used as a museum by the Randolph County Historical Society and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The West Schoolhouse is a historic school building at 61 Whig Street in Dennis, Massachusetts. Built c. 1770–75, this one-room schoolhouse is the oldest in Dennis. It served as a schoolhouse until 1865, and was moved to its present location in 1973. It is the only one of Dennis's twelve district schools that is still standing. It is now on the grounds of the Josiah Dennis House, a museum property operated by the Dennis Historical Society.
The District #6 Schoolhouse, also known locally as the Little Red Schoolhouse or the Lincoln School, located in Brunswick, New York, United States, is a one-room schoolhouse built c. 1830 or 1837 that was home to grades one through eight until the consolidation of Brunswick (Brittonkill) Central School District in 1952. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on July 3, 2008 and a dedication ceremony for the accomplishment was held on June 12, 2009.
The District #2 Schoolhouse, known locally as the Garfield School and also known as Brunswick District No. 2 School, located in Brunswick, New York, United States, is a two-room schoolhouse built and opened in 1881. It hosted local students until the consolidation of Brunswick (Brittonkill) Central School District in the mid-1950s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1988, becoming the first building in the Town of Brunswick to be added to the Register. It is the current home of the Brunswick Historical Society.
The Gibraltar District School No. 2 is a historic one-room school on the Door Peninsula in the town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin, United States. Built in the 1860s to serve children in the village of Ephraim, it operated as a school for approximately eighty years before closing and being converted into a museum. It has been designated a historic site because of its place in the area's history.
The Tucker Mountain Schoolhouse is a historic one-room schoolhouse on Tucker Mountain Road in Andover, New Hampshire. The small wood frame building was built in 1837, and served as a schoolhouse until 1893, when it was closed due to declining enrollments. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It is now owned by the Andover Historical Society, and is occasionally open to the public in the summer.
The District No. 2 Schoolhouse, also known as the Little Red Schoolhouse, is a historic one-room schoolhouse at 2851 Wakefield Road in Wakefield, New Hampshire. Built in 1858–59, it was at the time one of the finest district schoolhouses in rural New Hampshire. It was used as a school until 1941, and now houses the museum of the local historical society. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Madison School, District No. 1 is a historic one-room district schoolhouse, located on the grounds of the Madison Elementary School on New Hampshire Route 113 in Madison, New Hampshire. The school was built in 1835, and continues to exhibit Greek Revival characteristics despite alterations in 1873 and 1951. It was used as a school until 1950, has hosted town meetings, and has served as the local library. It is presently home to the local historical society. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The New Hope School is a historic schoolhouse at 3762 Arkansas Highway 284, east of Wynne, Arkansas. It is a single-story wood-frame structure with simple Plain-Traditional style, which was built in stages. In 1903 a single-room schoolhouse was built to serve the students of District 25, to which a second classroom was added sometime before 1930, resulting in the building's present appearance. This building was used as a school until 1951, after which it was purchased by a local peach farmer for use in his business. In 2007 the building was donated to the Cross County Historical Society, which has overseen its restoration.
The Harriman School is a historic one-room schoolhouse on North Road in rural Sebec, Maine. Built in 1860, it is the oldest of two surviving 19th-century district schoolhouses in the community. The vernacular Greek Revival building served as a public school until 1933, and was converted into a museum by the Sebec Historical Society after it acquired the property in 1966. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The Arivaca Schoolhouse is a historic one-room school building located in the unincorporated community of Arivaca, in southern Pima County, Arizona. A small and simple structure made of locally manufactured mud adobe bricks, the Arivaca Schoolhouse was built in 1879 and is the oldest standing schoolhouse remaining in Arizona. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 2012, and is now used as a center for community activities.
The Strawberry Schoolhouse is a historic one-room school building located in northwestern Gila County, Arizona, in the small mountain community of Strawberry. Built of pine logs in 1885, the Strawberry Schoolhouse is reputed to be the "oldest standing schoolhouse in Arizona" and now functions as a fully restored local history museum, complete with a late-19th century classroom exhibit.
The District No. 2 School is a historic schoolhouse at Pleasant Street and Caribou Road in Passadumkeag, Maine. Built in the 1840s as a school, it later served as a church, town hall, and library. It is now a museum operated by the local historical society, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Lone Tree School is a historic one-room schoolhouse located at 19292 250 North Avenue in rural Bureau County, Illinois. The school was built in 1876 to serve the community of Lone Tree and surrounding Wheatland Township. It was one of three schools in the township, and served school district #3; the district was established in 1848, but the location of its first school is unknown. It continued to serve the area until 1942, when it closed due to school consolidations in the county; the school outlasted the community it served, as Lone Tree was otherwise abandoned by the 1920s. Though Bureau County once had 236 one-room schoolhouses, Lone Tree School is one of the few which is well-preserved and still at its original location.
The North River Stone Schoolhouse is a historic building located north of Winterset, Iowa, United States. Built in 1874 of coursed native limestone, the one-room schoolhouse educated local students until it closed in 1945. The building features quoining on the four corners of the exterior, four windows capped with stone lintels on the east and west elevations, and an off-center doorway on the main (south) facade. From 1962 to 1973 the building was restored, and it opened as a school museum operated by the Madison County Historical Society. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
A two-room schoolhouse is a larger version of the one-room schoolhouse, with many of the same characteristics, providing the facility for primary and secondary education in a small community or rural area. While providing the same function as a contemporary primary school or secondary school building, a small multi-room school house is more similar to a one-room schoolhouse, both being architecturally very simple structures. While once very common in rural areas of many countries, one and two-room schools have largely been replaced although some are still operating. Having a second classroom allowed for two teachers to operate at the school, serving a larger number of schoolchildren and/or more grade levels. Architecturally, they could be slightly more complex, but were still usually very simple. In some areas, a two-room school indicated the village or town was wealthier and more prosperous.
Linwood Borough School No. 1, also known as the Leedsville Schoolhouse, is a former one-room schoolhouse built in 1873 and located at 16 West Poplar Avenue in Linwood of Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 1984 for its significance in architecture and education. The Linwood Historical Society now uses the building as a museum.
