Schools
Danbury's Little Red School House
Seriously, there not only was a single-room, little room school house in Danbury. There is a single room, little red school house on Main Street at the Danbury Historical Society and Museum.
It had been a long time since I sat at an old-fashioned school desk. You know the kind, with a kid-sized seat and a connected writing surface that lifts up to reveal a space designed to hold paper, pencils, a pea-shooter and love notes. But this morning I took a stroll down Memory Lane and found myself inside the Little Red Schoolhouse on the grounds of the Danbury Museum and Historical Society. I should quickly add that except for the desk and the clock and the portrait of George Washington, this memory lane surely must have belonged to an ancestor, because the schoolhouse in question only has one room.
“It’s one of my favorite little buildings,” said Brigid Guertin, Executive Director of the Danbury Museum and Historical Society. “It’s reflective of Danbury’s educational history in the mid 1800s. Back then every schoolhouse had a portrait of George Washington and later, one of Abraham Lincoln. Each one had a clock, a stove, a teacher’s desk, a boy’s entrance and a girl’s entrance. Boys sat on one side, girls on the other, arranged by age or by ability.” That must have made passing love notes and anything else a little trickier.
Built in the 1960s with bricks taken during the demolition of the Balmforth Avenue School, this charming, beautiful, tiny study in the history of study sits in the back of the DM&HS property at 43 Main Street. Given the presence of its more dramatic neighbors it’s easy to overlook. But, don’t do that. It’s spare, matching our notions of what education must once have been like, and eclectic. There are ancient books and furniture collected from the basements and attics of various Danbury schools, but also the quintessential pencil sharpener and 12” electric wall clock more reminiscent of the 1950s and 60s. The rough feel of the brick interior and the warmth radiating from the iron stove will take you back to a time before.
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A visit won’t take long; remember, it’s only one room. So, if you have a few minutes some Saturday, go take a tour and see the desks and benches, the school bell and clock and the ever-present portrait of old GW. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself strolling down your own personal memory lane. And that’s a walk worth taking.
