ORIGINS

I grew up in a small Ohio town and I rode the school bus from 1st through 12th grades. My bus ride always included a country road on which every school day we saw a one-room brick school house. (SW corner of Stine Rd and Enon-Xenia Pike). As the years went by I watched this wonderful, familiar friend fall apart. After I married the school really began to deteriorate. Every time we visited the area I would want to take a photo of the school but never did. Finally, when we went specifically for the task, the school was gone. It was a huge loss for me and, since that time, whenever we pass a one-room school it is a joy to stop to take a picture or two. Thus, our collection here and the blog with schools in other states. Jill :oD

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Hilton #3, Fairview School

Built in 1883, about one mile southeast of town. Abandoned in 1949.  The building and land was purchased by the farmer on the adjacent land and he remodeled it into a house.

To remodel into a house, they turned it 90 degrees away from its north/south orientation.  Then they cut the studs by four feet to give the house eight-foot walls, which required the roof to be rebuilt at a lower pitch.  The foundation walls were raised 18 inches and excavation was done to provide a basement garage, and three rooms downstairs.  They kept the original flooring over the 10-inch joists; over the years three different layers of flooring had been laid!

From Marengo, proceed south on CR V66 to 160th St, then turn east.  The house is just a short distance on the south side of 160th St. 

Information about the house, and the photos of the original school and the floor plan for the house are scanned from Owen Jones' book, One-Room School Houses: Iowa County, Iowa, 1844-1966.
This photo is of the west end of the house, which is an addition to the original building.
In the following photo of the house, the original school section is to the left of the chimney, as seen from the above floor plan.
Photographed on 10/1/11

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