One Room Schools

Another suburb of Lawrenceville is JACKSONVILLE. On Rt. 41at the top of Snyder Hill is Jacksonville Road that goes back to what used to be the Jacksonville Station for the Springfield, Troy and Piqua RR (interurban). A few houses and a one room school was as big as the community would ever get. Years ago, I mentioned to a family member that I had been knocking on doors all along the route trying to find an ST&P trolley car hidden in a barn somewhere. “You won’t find one,” I was told. “Your grandfather was hired to cut them up for scrap during the depression at the old Jacksonville station.” At one time, if you walked the old right-of-way that parallels Fox Hollow Rd. you occasionally did find some of the old rusty spikes from the trolley.

Most people associate the area with Byerman's (now Mader's) and Moore's Market that once served the neighborhood.

German Township School # 9 –“Dear”

Location: 6647 River RoadCurrent Use: Residence

John Dear donated the land for the school.

German Township School # 6 –“Beech Center”

Location: 5551 Troy Road, across from Northwestern High School

Current Use: Residence

German Township School # 11 –“Eureka”

Location: NE corner of Johnson Road and Ballentine Pike

Current Use: Residence

German Township School # 8 –“Beech Knob”

Location: 2156 Shrine Rd near Miller Road

Current Use: Residence

German Township School # 7 –“Beech Crossing”

Location: 5870 Ballentine Pike

Current Use: Residence

German Township School # 3 –“Tremont”

Finally, in Tremont, the 1870 and 1875 Clark County atlases both show an early one room school, on the opposite side of the street from the present building and a block closer to the center of town, that would predate the 1880 building that still stands. Both place it approximately across the street from the current 220 N. Mulberry St. I don't have a picture of or much info on this school. Amazingly, it and Willow Dale school are the only one room German Township schools that do not survive in some form today.

Update: Found it! Mt. Zion school was not as close to the Mt. Zion church as I thought it showed in the 1875 atlas, about a quarter mile north of St. Paris Pike on Upper Valley Pike on the west side. Did find that a Grover Circle was teaching there in 1912 and had 33 students, Grades 1-6.

Funny, I've been by there a thousand times and don't ever recall seeing it until I did a Google Maps street view up and down the road.

Help! I volunteer at the Clark County Historical Society and have been given the task of locating and getting info on all the one room schoolhouses in the county that were used in the mid- to late 1800's. There were over a hundred of them in the 10 townships. The info on the township high schools will be later.

Amazingly, 9 of the 11 one room schools in German Township still exist in one form or another, mostly residences. One that disappeared is Willow Dale and the other is Mt. Zion on Upper Valley Pike. If anyone has info on that school, I'd appreciate it being passed along. After it was closed, I believe it became the Mt. Zion Lutheran Church and the cemetery for the church is still there. Later, the church was abandoned and demolished. Now, I remember a story, not sure if true, that our NW teacher and coach, Charlie Leach, found out that the lot was abandoned, "homesteaded" the property and built his house there at 3775 UVP. Love to have that verified.

So, LMK if you have pictures or know anything about Mt. Zion, school or church. Thanks!

German Township School # 10 –“Pleasant View”

Location: About 6000 Detrick-Jordan Pike, NW corner with Ebersole Road