Back to School, 1889 Style 

As schoolchildren gear up for their return to school, the Edmond Historical Preservation Trust invites students to glimpse a school day from the perspective of Edmond’s first students. The restored 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse at 2nd & Boulevard is the first public school of Oklahoma Territory and the only one-room school remaining along Route 66. 

A Simplified School Day 

Today’s children typically prepare for the coming year by filling shopping bags with school supplies, new clothes, and increasingly larger backpacks. Parents check bus schedules or drop-off times, coordinate after-school agendas, and everyone adds various communication apps to their phones and devices. 

It is an astounding amount of preparation compared to that of schoolchildren in 1889, who walked to school carrying only a lunch pail and wearing one of two outfits. By the time the school bell rang, most children had already completed an array of morning chores. In some ways, the start of school was a time for quiet rest and controlled focus. 

Edmond’s First Public School 

Edmond’s founding citizens, who settled on the prairie to start a new life 137 years ago, arrived with minimal personal items. As they began to clear their land and prepare homes, the townspeople communicated their desire to have “proper schooling” for their children. Education was a top priority, as many settlers had educated backgrounds. 

With the help of some diligent fundraising by the Ladies School Aid Auxiliary, $25 was raised to buy lumber for the wood-framed school. Just four months after the town of Edmond was established, nineteen children attended class on September 6, 1889. 

Although the students lived in houses equivalent to shacks today, families knew that their chance for a better life lay in the opportunity to read and write. The ability to attend 1st through 8th grade provided a solid foundation for many of the leaders who later advanced Edmond from a settlement town to an established city in the new state of Oklahoma. 

Saving the Schoolhouse 

Because the population eventually outgrew the one-room school, the structure was converted into a house and later into a camera shop. In the 1980s, local historian Lucille Warrick fought to prove that the building was Edmond’s forgotten first school. She was proved correct when the inside walls were removed to reveal the original chalkboards! 

Visit the Schoolhouse 

Visitors can see inside the restored 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse during scheduled times and events: 

Saturday Afternoons: The schoolhouse is open most Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Knowledgeable staff and volunteers are available to give tours. 

Children’s Schoolhouse Camps: Various camps are offered during summer and holiday breaks so that students can time travel back to 1889. 

Adult Schoolhouse Days: Adults can experience the one-room school day, led by a living history schoolmarm on August 31 from 9 a.m. to noon. 

Meet the Teacher at the 1889 Territorial School: It’s a come-and-go field trip August 10- 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with old-fashioned activities and crafts. Picnic lunches are welcome. 

Learn more at EdmondHistoricalTrust.com and EdmondHistory.org.