The Little Red Schoolhouse

Everytime we pass by River Road in Lyndhurst, I see this Little Red Schoolhouse and have always wanted to visit. Last week I searched it on the web and found their site. They're only open during the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month from 2-4pm. We went this afternoon and it was very interesting. This is actually the first known public school in Bergen County, built in 1804. It's a one-room schoolhouse that was in use up until 1980! The last class was all 3rd graders but it's usually a mix from Kindergarden to 8th grade, with only one teacher. The house next to the school is where the teacher would board during the week and then she'd go home on the weekends since commuting everyday would take too long.
The top of the school has a bell and they'd ring that to announce to the neighborhood that it was time to go to school. Finn had a chance to ring the bell (^_^) There were separate entrances for boys and girls and they'd sit on different sides of the room as well. The lady who conducted the "tour" also allowed us inside the exhibit since we were the only ones there. Finn got to sit on the bench, got to play with the toys too and she also let him draw on the chalkboard tablet on the table ... wasn't she nice? And she said since no one is really allowed to go in the exhibit, Finn's drawing, with his name on it, will remain there ... hahahaha. Or at least until someone from the historical society decides to erase it. Chalkboards surrounded the room and what's cool is they found 2 panels with drawings still intact! One had the 3 bears and the other was Little Red Riding Hood.
There was a big stove in the back of the room and that was their heater for the winter. In the basement was the bathroom but that was added later on. Originally they had an outhouse in the yard so they had to go out to use the bathroom. Too bad it's not there anymore. They also used a bucket (they don't have it anymore either) with a big ladle for their water. One student, usually a boy, would go out to the stream to fill the bucket with water and bring it inside. If they get thirsty, they would drink from that one ladle (0_o) Not exactly sanitary I know.
If one misbehaved, depending on the offense, there'd be a corresponding number of lashes as punishment. L-A-S-H-E-S! But the students weren't the only ones with rules to follow coz teacher's had their own rules too. Basically, teachers then didn't have a life ... hehehe.
Since books were expensive then and the only ones who had a lot were the wealthy, there was this so called traveling library. They'd visit schools once in a while to let the kids borrow books. In class, each student had what is called a horn book. It's a little paddle shaped piece of wood with the letters and sounds and prayer on one side, and some sort of story on the other, protected by a sheet of transparent horn, hence horn book. But I have no idea what a transparent horn would look like.
Aside from the school's history, there were also a few exhibits about the town of Lyndhurst including a huge bullet that they recovered from an explosion in 1917. There were also photos of the before and after of landmarks around town like the Wendy's along Ridge Road which used to be a movie house.
I took photos but I forgot to go outside in the yard to take photos of the building itself. I only have one photo and it's of the bell tower. Silly me. I'll probably go back another Sunday and take pictures of the building. Meanwhile, here's what I took of the inside.