CHESTERVILLE – The Chesterville Center Union Meeting House and the Chesterville Heritage Society announce their collaboration on an evening of reminiscences about attending a one-room schoolhouse. The event is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at the Meeting House, 3 Borough Road, Chesterville.
Rural Maine schoolhouses were typically of the one-room variety until the 1957 Sinclair Act created School Administrative Districts statewide. While Chesterville in 1841 had 15 school districts, in the mid-1960s the last small schools were closed and Chesterville’s students were bussed to Farmington or New Sharon, a situation that continues today.
Although the halcyon days of one-room schools are rapidly receding, many throughout the Franklin County area survive to tell the tales of that vanished era. While these schools were the epitome of “local,” the Chesterville Heritage Society has found that there was surprising overlap in the experiences of all students of one-room schoolhouses, with identical curricula, similar teacher profiles, books, chores, roles, and routines common to all the schools.
Consequently, the Chesterville event is meant to include anyone who attended a one-room schoolhouse anywhere, as memories are bound to overlap.
Anyone who went to such a school, or who knows anyone who did, and would like to share memories in an informal setting on November 13 at 1:00 p.m., is encouraged to contact Greg Soule at 897-4907 or email cynthia.hoeh@gmail.com.
The Chesterville Center Meeting House is a non-profit 501(c)3 entity with no religious affiliation, and is fully accessible to those with mobility impairment. There are restroom facilities. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
