The original Seneca Schoolhouse experience is depicted in the 1976 children ’ s novel Country School Boy , written by Beth Paterson Shipe and illustrated by Carol Stuart Watson .
A key source for their book ( available for purchase at the schoolhouse ) was the remarkable memory of Lewis P . Allnutt , Sr ., who attended SSH as a boy living on Sugarland
Road . Mr . Allnutt was interviewed in his 100th year , a few years before his death in early 1975 at 103 .
Boys carry firewood to heat the potbellied stove , while a few girls wait patiently for a big potato to heat up on the stove . Then it ’ s on to a rousing game of “ hot potato ” at recess .
Mountain . The Medley election district was named for its polling place , John Medley ’ s tavern at the crossroads in Beallsville .
The schoolhouse , solidly built of Seneca red sandstone , ceased being a school in 1910 , and it was an abandoned tenant farmer residence in Seneca Creek State Park when HMD , under the leadership of Mary Ann Kephart , began the restoration project in 1978 with state and private funding , completing it in 1981 . Historic Medley District also owns two historic properties in downtown Poolesville , the 1793 John Poole House and Store ( the oldest building in Poolesville ) and the 1907 Poolesville Bank building , later the town hall . All three HMD properties will be open for Montgomery Heritage Days on Saturday and Sunday , June 25-26 , from noon to 4:00 p . m .
The modern schoolmarm is longtime Poolesville resident Julie Shapiro . She portrays Miss Alice Darby , whose father , Upton Darby , owned the grist mill on Seneca Creek ( later known as Tschiffely Mill ) and was instrumental in gathering community support to start the school in 1865- ’ 66 .
Julie schedules the school groups , which fill SSH most weekdays from mid-fall through early June . HMD typically charges $ 225 for a four-hour session , and visitors provide their own transportation and lunches . The program is ideal for second- to fourth-graders but can be tailored to other ages . ( Homeschoolers often bring a wide range of ages , which makes for a more-authentic one-room school experience .) Weekend parties of two hours typically cost $ 150 .
Many schools have been coming to SSH for years , and some visiting teachers and parents tell Julie Shapiro that they came to SSH as students themselves and remember the experience vividly and fondly .
For information about this wonderful experience for children , visit www . historicmedley . org and leave a message at info @ historicmedley . org , or phone 301-407-0777 and leave a message .
Knight Kiplinger was raised and still lives at Montevideo , the 1830 farm across River Road from Seneca Schoolhouse , and he first knew the overgrown , abandoned building as a boy in the early 1960s . A financial journalist and historic preservationist , he is board chair of Historic Medley District .
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