No. 9 Stanhope Schoolhouse (1898)

Hundreds of one-room schoolhouses just like this were built in the late 1800s to meet a growing demand for public education. In 1871, provincial legislation in Ontario made schooling compulsory and free for children up to the age of 12. With most children walking to school, one-room schoolhouses sprung up all over the province.

This school was built in Hindon in 1898 to replace a smaller structure that had fallen into disrepair. Stanhope Township councillors debated whether it would be more cost effective to repair the existing structure or build a new school. When you consider that the building continued to be used as a school until the 1930s and is still standing today, it seems their decision to build from scratch has more than paid off!

It was originally located on Brady Lake Road in Hindon Hill and was relocated to the museum in the 1990s, after being donated by Bill Branson in 1993. The S.S. stands for Standard School, meaning schools that taught the provincially legislated curriculum. The teacher taught all the academic basics to several grade levels in the same room, huddled around a crackling wood stove in the centre of the room. These schools often doubled as the chapel on Sundays and as a meeting place for local organizations.