Times Have Changed: Going (Way) Back to School in 1874

By Mary Casey-Sturk

One hundred fifty-one years ago, Josephine and Ambrose Buckingham sold the property at the northeast corner of Given and Camargo Roads for $340 to the Symmes Township Board of Education.  The “Little Red Schoolhouse” was built and became known as the “Washington Heights School.”  Charles Earhart was hired as the teacher for all grades, and the school opened its doors in 1874 to 54 students. 

The Schoolhouse had the latest in educational technologies – the long north wall was covered in blackboards, and the ten large arched windows let in a great amount of daylight to supplement candles and/or lanterns.  The children sat on long benches with their books and writing slates, and the room was heated by a pot bellied stove near the center of the room.  It was quite a wonderful facility.

School Supplies

Long before laptops, students still needed to bring supplies to the classroom. In the 1800s, students carried pencil boxes. Simple wooden boxes were typical for most students, but not everyone purchased a pencil box, some children used recycled containers such as empty cigar or stationery boxes. More affluent students had boxes known as “scholar’s companions”, these would have included a lock and key to keep contents secure and perhaps had their own small ink bottle. 

Inside, you would find slate pencils and sometimes quills. Per the Smithsonian, “Throughout the 19th century, students also used quills with paper to complete schoolwork and practice penmanship. Quills were large feathers with tips that were sharpened to a point and then dipped into ink to write. When quill tips broke, students would sharpen the quills with a “pen knife.” In the absence of this small knife, a handy pair of sewing scissors would do. Quill pens evolved into wooden dip pens with replaceable metal nibs.”

The use of slate boards was slowly being replaced by paper as that became more available by the mid-19^th century. Each child would have school supplies and a few books which they carried strapped together with leather straps or a belt. They brought their lunch to school in a tin pail (and there were no pizza parties for good grades). 

Changes in the Community

In the early 1900s, the local area began undergoing a major change as it was converting from an agrarian community to a more suburban, residential area.  In the 1920s and 1930s, the Camargo Realty Company planted the seeds of the “Estate Era,” documented in From Camargo to Indian Hill by Virginia White.   Most of the farms were purchased and subdivided for new homes or combined to make large estates.   New schools were built to handle the growing population of students, and the Village of Indian Hill was incorporated in 1941.  The one-room school served the community until 1940.

Afterward, the Village used the Schoolhouse for its administrative building from 1941 to 1956.  From 1956 to 1961, the building was used by various community groups. The Board of Education moved into the schoolhouse in 1961 and occupied it until 1972 ~ 1973.  

Saving the Schoolhouse

The Indian Hill Historical Society was formed to save the Schoolhouse and transform it back to its original design roots.   The office partitions were removed, the blackboards rediscovered, and the resonant school bell refurbished and put back in working order.

Pencil box or backpack, the end of summer, then and now, means it’s time to go back to school.