Stewart School – The Old School House

Previously located at 5090 Young Road, the Stewart’s Corners schoolhouse is one of Stow’s original one room schoolhouses, built approximately 1800-1885. One of the eight one-room schoolhouses in Stow Township at the end of the nineteenth century, this frame building replaced an earlier brick schoolhouse on its original site on the southwest corner of the Call and Young Road intersection.

Last names of pupils who attended the school in the early 1900’s include Hanson, Stewart, Smith, Fleshman, Naftzger, Moser, Judson, and Moon. The Stewart School was in use through 1906. In 1907 the Stow Township Centralized School was opened, allowing all Stow students to attend the same building, and the Stewart School closed.  After the school was closed it remained on the property of Fred Hanson until it was moved about 800 feet north to make room for the second tee of the Fox Den Golf Course in 1967.

According to one news article, the abandoned school building was used at times as a location for dances and revival meetings.  It later served as a tool and storage shed for Fred Hanson, and was most recently home to the Green Valley United Baptist Church.  The building, situated on property owned by Metro Parks of Summit County, was scheduled to be used as a parking lot. Metro Parks  offered the building to Stow Historical Society if the Society could raise enough money.

Thanks to the generous donations of money, time, and labor by the Stow Community, Stewart School was moved to the Heritage Reserve Park October 16, 2013. Click here to read the Stow Sentry article on the move. With the moving of the building, Phase One of the Old Schoolhouse project is completed.

Old Scool House Report 8/14/2014

Bob Flower, OSH Committee Chair

Phase Two of the OSH restoration is in full swing and we have made great progress over the last 4 weeks. Visit us in Silver Springs Park off Young Road and see firsthand our new look.
The first event that changes our appearance was the addition of the two front stoops that we started the last week of July. Bill Crowe, the mason who built the foundation, designed the front stoops. The excavation was done and donated by Alan Bourgeois, the excavator of the foundation. Bill and our volunteers poured the footer, layed the block, and faced the block with the original barnstone. With the support of the City Service Department, the cap stones were set on top as the walking surfaces. The Construction Team of volunteers scheduled several work days and have completed the siding on both the front and rear of the OSH. The siding on the east and west sides are scheduled for completionthis next weekend (Aug 9 and 10).
The second event was the replacement of the asphalt roof with a metal galvanized standing seam roof. The material was delivered on Monday, and the installation accomplished by Walnut Creek Roofing, on Tuesday morning.

Our goal is to have the outside restoration completed for visitors to enjoy at our Harvest Festival Oct 4 and 5, 2014. To that end we will be working to complete the sidewalks and the rear door access. The landscaping for the front and side gardens will be completed also. This is an Eagle Scout project by a scout from Stow’s Scout Troup 273. Final outside of the building tasks include calking, painting, and constructing the rear door access. We would like to have temporary electricity in the building before the festival, but we are in need of a donor or sponsor to fund this task. We would greatly appreciate it if a person, company or group would come forth and fund this endeavor. Donor bricks and plaque spaces are still available.

Old School House Report 11/1/2016

Bob Flower, OSH Committee Chair

In August 2016  we selected the interior paint colors, and the vendor Sherman Williams to provide the material. The Manager of the Stow store also joined our Painting Team. The painting began with the priming of the wainscot, painting the ceiling, and painting the sidewalls with two coats. The window, door trim and baseboards were installed by the Construction Team in September then primed and painted. Brandon Heating returned and installed the heat pump. It is our primary source of heat and air conditioning.

The ADA ramp that was started in June continued construction in July and August and September. This Eagle Scout Project by Troop 273 is 95% completed. It looks great and reflects the meticulous workmanship of the scouts and their leaders. There are two items to be completed before we can get City approval of the ramp.

All these items above were completed prior to the festival, along with a complete inside and window cleaning, by volunteers. The outside of the OSH was also power washed by another volunteer. In September before the festival, Williams Flooring replaced and repaired the floor in the main room.

For the festival a display representing the teacher’s desk area was setup. Also an area of children’s desks and school items was created. The six OSH display panels were placed around the main room to remind visitors of the history of One Room Schoolhouses and the story of Stow’s Stewart Schoolhouse. We had many festival visitors and received may compliments on our restoration work.

In October after the festival, Williams Flooring returned to finish the flooring. We selected the stain, and elected to install flush wooden heating registers and a durable finish process. The floor was then sanded, stained, sealed and two coats of finish applied. We received the donation of the 4 outside lights and then scheduled Thompson Electric to complete the final electrical work. We also then obtained the final electrical inspection by the City.

We (the OSH) look really good on the outside and the inside, but we still have some additional tasks. We need 4 School House type ceiling fixtures, and a small old coal stove, in the main room to provide that school house look. These would make nice year end donations for someone. We also need funds to complete the installation of the flooring in the coat rooms and on the teachers platform. There still are donor bricks available.

The donor brick garden was constructed in 2017.