Early School Districts

Early School Districts

The early days of education in Westerville

By 1827, almost twenty years after the first school was held in the Phelps barn, Blendon Township had organized itself into a series of six districts, each with a one-room schoolhouse. There was no village of Westerville yet so the land that is the city of Westerville today was part of Blendon Township and was part of this early school system.

Some of these early districts had as few as five families and some had as many as 25 families. Not one of them was nearly as big as any of the schools in the Westerville School District today. Boundaries for these early districts were as far south as current-day Morse Road. The schools were built where there was a cluster of families so that students did not have to travel far to attend school since most of them walked.

The families in each district were responsible for the school in their district. They had to fix the roof of the schoolhouse if it leaked. They had to provide wood for the fireplace that heated the school. They had to hire the teacher to work with their children.

Last updated: 2/15/2018

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