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Lone Star School

The one-room school played an integral role in educating children in rural America during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and Jersey County was certainly no exception. At one time, more than 70 one-room schools existed in the country, with such interesting names as Shakerag, Brush College, and Pleasent Grove. For a map of Jersey County’s one-room school, click here.

The most unusual, an eight-sided school, was located in northeastern Otter Creek township. Some claimed the Octagonal School was built that way so it could never be moved. Others claimed it was built that way so the school could easily be rolled to a new location.

The creation of the Jersey County Unit 100 school district in 1948 signaled the beginning of the end for the country’s one-room schoolhouses, and the final schools closed in 1956.

The Lone Star School is an excellent example of the one-room schools that once dotted the landscape of Jersey County. It was built in 1877 in western Jersey County near the junction of Route 16 and Route 100. When the school was closed, the land and building were purchased by Clifton and Josie Schudel.

The school remained in the family for three generations, until Patsy Schudel Halemeyer, and her husband, Bill, donated the school to the Historical Society to be enjoyed by future generations.

The relocation and restoration of the school began in August 2002. A state grant and the sale of engraved bricks and stones helped finance the project.

Many of the bricks and stones record the locations of the county’s one-room schools and the names of those who were part of this chapter of Jersey County history.