One Room School Houses

One-Room Schoolhouses in Monroeville

by Marilyn Wempa

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The following information is taken from a poster made in 1987. Lois and Walt Lyman who made the poster based it on a 1896 map and oral history interviews. The poster is on display at the a historical site in Monroeville called the McGinley House, off McGinley and Haymaker roads.

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The poster shows ten one-room schools:

Breakneck near McClure Road (near Shangri-la).

Brinton at the intersection of Haymaker and Broadway (Pitcairn).

Clugston on Beatty Road (near CCAC, Boyce Campus).

"Crossroads" in back of the original Crossroads Presbyterian Church along Stroschein Road; taught by the Dr. T. C. Robinson.

Haymaker at the intersection of Haymaker and Saunders Station Roads

(Forbes Hospital area).

Monroeville on Monroeville Boulevard and Stroschein Road (built in 1859).

Mt. Pleasant on Mt. Pleasant Road (Near Restland Memorial Park).

McCann on James Street between Monroeville and Turtle Creek.

Roosevelt on Thompson Run Road near Penn Township border (still standing).

Unity near Elliott Road off Route 22 (still standing in Brookside

Trailer Court).

The following information was taken with permission from "Hamlet to Highways, A History of Monroeville, Pennsylvania," written by Marilyn Chandler with photographs and art work by Clair Chandler; published in 1988.

Schools were built in Patton Township* before the Civil War, beginning with a log cabin behind Crossroads Church that was taught by Dr. T. C. Robinson. A one-room school, also located across from this church, was built in 1859. It featured an open grate and a pot-bellied stove. Coal was carried from the nearby coal house by the boys, while the girls hauled buckets of water from surrounding homes. Patton Township had ten one-room school houses at one time that were located in different sections so they would be close to where students lived because they walked to school in all kinds of weather.

The one-room school was quite plain and basic. The lone teacher would instruct all grades from first though eighth, with the older children helping to teach the younger ones. The teacher also did any cleaning that needed to be done. Books and supplies were scarce and each student had to purchase his or her own. Although teaching methods and the school environment were quite different from that of today, a good, basic education was received, one that was adequate for life in the primarily farm community.

The history of the more modern, multi-room schools that have served the community begins in Pitcairn in 1892. The first high school class of seven students graduated after two years of study in 1898 from a building on Sixth Street that later became an elementary school and is today Pitcairn Borough?s municipal building.

*Before Monroeville was incorporated in 1952, it was called Patton Township. In 1847, Patton was formed from a section of Plum Township.

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The following account, written by Grace Thompson around 1926, recalls her memories of the Clugston School in 1915:

"Clugston School, where I spent eight years, is one of the oldest schools around this district. As my father and mother were both raised in this community, they both went to Clugston. Its name originated from a family of Clugstons who lived in the community for many years. A bell, believed to be from this school, is on display at the McGinley House in Monroeville.

The first day I went to school was a bright, sunny September morning. Living a mile from the school house, we had to start [begin walking] early in the morning. The year I started to school my sisters, Helen and Martha, and my brother, Murray, were still going. On our road to school we walked through the fields and past my grandmother?s house.

When we arrived at school, nearly all the other children were there. My teacher?s name was Miss Miller, who had taught there the year before. This year there were only thirty children going to Clugston. Out of the thirty, there were five in my grade.

As the school contained only one room, all the eight grades were together. After the teacher rang the bell, everyone came in and took his seat. The opening exercises being over, the teacher assigned the upper grades their work, and then came over to the first graders. We were all very timid for a while, but after the teacher began to tell us a story, everyone was relieved.

Finishing the story, the teacher told us to print our names. As I was shown how to print my name by my older sisters, it was no trouble for me. When we finished writing our name, the teacher gave us each a pair of scissors. This pleased me because I was never allowed to handle scissors. With the scissors we cut out pictures, which we were permitted to take home.

Finally, the time came for the first recess when everyone was dismissed to go out and play. We played different games with older children, such as drop the handkerchief, hide-and-go-seek and catchers. Beside the school was a coal tipple, where coal was hauled away in trucks. Around this coal tipple made good hiding place for playing ?hide-and-go seek.?

As we just had a half day the first day, everyone went home at lunch time. The teacher gave each of the first graders a large pencil and a tablet to practice writing his name. With the tablet and pencil, I was greatly pleased and carried it home with much pleasure. When we were passing grandma?s house going home, she stopped us and gave each one a cooky.

The cooky tasted very good to me because I had begun to get hungry. When I got home I told my mother everything that had happened and that I could not wait for the next day to come."