away for the weekend: round schoolhouse - brookline, vermont

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

round schoolhouse - brookline, vermont

I had put my quest for old schoolhouses on hold for a few weeks -
until after mud season, anyway.
But sometimes opportunity just presents itself.
While out exploring last weekend, in the middle of making a u-turn, we saw this.



Yep -  a round one-room schoolhouse.
It's also somewhat unusual that it was built of brick.
The wood siding on the attached shed would have been much more typical for Vermont.


Not satisfied with a quick drive-by shot, I needed to explore a bit.
Even Greg and Nearby-apartment daughter got out of the car for this one.
I'm not sure why or when the shed was built onto the side.


This little chalkboard hung inside.
Taking a quick peek (okay, maybe not so quick) through the window, it looks as though it's been set back up as a classroom - maybe as a museum (?)
but the glare was too strong to get any photos.
It would have been interesting to go inside - it looks kind of small for 60 students
(even on benches)


39 comments:

  1. This is awesome. I can imagine 60 kids jammed in there:) B

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  2. so very cool! love round or octagon or nonagon (as in my house). :)

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  3. Oh my goodness, that is totally awesome! I would love to visit this place, great find Karen!

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  4. This has got to be your best schoolhouse yet; who would have ever thought they would have built a round schoolhouse all those years ago.....It's so quaint.....

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  5. Quaint is the perfect word. Wonderful find. But how did the teacher stand her students in the corner? :)

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  6. How cool is that!! What a find!

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  7. This find is treasure. I'd like to photograph round buildings but there's next to none near me. Here's a link http://www.dalejtravis.com/barn/rbarns.htm that might help you find some when you are away for the weekend.

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  8. Oh, this place is so awesome! Thanks for sharing the pictures with us and the one of the sign. Twyla

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  9. How neat! I don't think I've ever seen a round schoolhouse before. What a unique find!

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  10. Wow, what an awesome find! Your probably right that it is the only round schoolhouse ever built in this country. My cousins went to a one room school house that was octagon. I visited there with them once.

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  11. This is a unique and charming find!

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  12. HOw awesome that there's a chalkboard still in there!! Is that writing on it from way back in the day?

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  13. Interesting that the chimney comes out the middle. Stove in the center or lots of pipe running to it?

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    Replies
    1. The stove is in the middle of the room so that the heat was distributed more evenly.

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  14. The round brick-house with a wooden is a rare but cozy combination! Such a find . . . also the chalkboard!

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  15. Wow! What an amazing vintage school ~ Great photos and post ^_^

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  16. That is so cool. I would have been to fascinated looking around to pay attention to my lessons. What fun history you uncovered.

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  17. What a fun thing to find! Very unusual! Always love your photos! <3 xx

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  18. What a find! The brick structure certainly looks more modern. It's hard to build a round structure. I wonder why it was done that way.

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  19. The school teacher in me is drooling over this one .- excellent find!
    Thought to be the only round one built in the country - very cool.

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  20. I like this school. the plan inside would be interesting. Teacher in the middle? Obviously they didn't have to choose from six plans like they did in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

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  21. Very cool -- I went to "The Little Red Schoolhouse" for 1st and 2nd grad -- just 2 rooms...LOL

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  22. great find, what a cool, old place!! i love that you took a picture of the sign, i always do that!!

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  23. very interesting school-house building and what a great find. It reminds me of the round barns we have in this area of the country.

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  24. Very interesting - I wonder why they decided to make it round. Great that it has been preserved.

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  25. The school house looks interesting and unique with a combination of sliding and cone roof! Excellent photos! Really very old school and I don’t think it’s still running!

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    1. It was last used as a schoolhouse in about 1927.

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  26. I love the concept of round buildings, round rooms, round turrets. This is such a cool school house. Makes me want to time travel and see what school was like then. Thanks for sharing on Walk and Click Wednesday!

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  27. Amazing find! I know you were excited to see this! So glad it's been well kept!

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  28. I love this place!!
    I have always wanted to visit Vermont.
    The main reason we haven't yet, is that the best months for my husband to sneak away from work are when our spring thaw happens.. road restrictions go on, and he's usually finishing up winter work, but not yet able to start summer work. Usually March - April.
    Trouble with this, is New England is in the same boat as us, weather-wise, this time of year! Nor'easters or spring thaw! So we always end up choosing somewhere warm & southward.
    I'll get there some day, though!

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  29. $5.00! I wonder what that translates into today. How awesome! 1822! So cool & very cool find =)

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  30. That's about as cool a schoolhouse as I've ever seen... love it! Thank you for sharing on 'Rurality Blog Hop #10!'

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  31. Now that is cool!! Great shots and thanks for including the sign as well.

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  32. I grew up a couple of towns away from the Round Schoolhouse in Brookline, Vt. If you visit there, stop by the town clerk's office which is across the street. She will have a key to the place with lots of stories about when it was in use, why it was built round as well as about some of the students and teachers who attended the school.

    When I was in high school in the 1970's we made a film which included interviewing people who had been taught there. One little boy who was just starting school decided that he had had enough of it, crawled under the stove in the middle of the room, dropped down through a hole in the floorboards and headed down the road back home.

    It is believed that the first school teacher may have been a highwayman so he built the building round so that he could see anyone coming and escape if needed.

    The barn or shed attached to the school held stacked wood and two back houses, one for boys and the other for girls.

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  33. The windows on the end of the barn are for the two outhouses.

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