The Chesterville Center Union Meeting House and the Chesterville Heritage Society are collaborating on an evening of reminiscences about attending a one-room schoolhouse.

The event is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Meeting House, 3 Borough Road in Chesterville.

Rural Maine schoolhouses were typically of the one-room variety until the 1957 Sinclair Act created school administrative districts statewide. While Chesterville in 1841 had 15 school districts, in the mid-1960s the last small schools were closed. Chesterville’s students were bussed to Farmington or New Sharon, a situation that continues today, according to a news release from Cynthia Stancioff, society member.

Although the days of one-room schools are rapidly receding, many throughout the Franklin County area survive to tell the tales of that vanished era. While these schools were the epitome of “local,” the Chesterville Heritage Society has found that there was surprising overlap in the experiences of all students of one-room schoolhouses, with identical curricula, similar teacher profiles, books, chores, roles and routines common to all the schools.

Consequently, the Chesterville event is meant to include anyone who attended a one-room schoolhouse anywhere, as memories are bound to overlap.

The Chesterville Center Meeting House is a nonprofit entity with no religious affiliation, and is fully accessible to those with mobility impairment. There are restroom facilities.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Anyone who went to such a school, or who knows anyone who did, and would like to share memories in an informal setting is encouraged to call Greg Soule at 207-897-4907 or email Stancioff at cynthia.hoeh@gmail.com.

 

Check out other upcoming area events!

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