Museum Tour: Parsonage School House
Parsonage School House, January 2022.
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Standing near the entrance to the Schenck Farmstead/West Windsor History Museum is a small, one-room school house with small bell tower. This is a recreation of the original "Parsonage School House" that once stood at 297 Clarksville Road (next to Maurice Hawk School).
Prior to the 1820s, youth education was a private venture, with parents paying teachers directly to instruct their children in small wooden school houses. However, in 1828, West Windsor formally established a public Township school system for children, Grades 1 to 8. Four school districts were originally dedicated that year, each centered around a local neighborhood: Clarksville, Dutch Neck, Edinburg, and Penns Neck. That same year, West Windsor's Township Committee allocated $45 for "building a school house on the parsonage between Penns Neck and Dutch Neck."[1] However, it was not until some time between 1849[2] and 1860[3] that a school was constructed in this general vicinity, at 297 Clarksville Road. The early sponsors of this "Parsonage School House" were apparently George Bergen, William Voorhees, and James Wyckoff, father of J. V. N. Wyckoff, himself later a superintendent of the school district.[4] |
1905 map. Note School No. 2 - the "new" Parsonage School House!
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This school served students for an untold number of years. At an equally-unknown point, it was condemned for public use and converted into a house.[5] And, some time between 1890 and 1903, a new schoolhouse was constructed just a few minutes away, roughly where a much-newer house stands today at 345 Clarksville Road (see the adjacent map from 1905).[6],[7]
This "new" school house (and presumably the original one, too) was frequently used as a religious gathering space, where pastors from neighboring churches would preach one Sunday each month. Community picnics also attracted neighbors and residents of surrounding towns.[8] No teachers at the original Parsonage School House are known to the Historical Society, and only four from the "new" School House are recorded: |
Frank B. Rogers at the "new" Parsonage School House, 1912.
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Like the rest of the town's old wooden school houses, the "new" Parsonage School House shut down in 1917 after being made obsolete by the opening of the brick-and-stone Dutch Neck and Penns Neck Schools.[13] It was later demolished at an unknown point. However, the original Parsonage School remained standing and continued being used as a house. Throughout the early 20th century, it passed through several owners, most notably the Stives-Courtney family, who lived here from 1926 until 1994.
[14],[15] In 1994, the Stives sold the property.[16] Its new owner wanted to construct a larger residence, but rather than having it torn down, the school was relocated to the Schenck Farmstead at 50 Southfield Road.[17] Unfortunately, it was in disrepair and had to be demolished. A recreation was rebuilt and opened to the public in 2012.[18] It now serves as a memorial to the township's earliest educational efforts. Inside the schoolhouse are many artifacts from centuries past, showing the evolution of education within the township. Visit the farmstead to learn more and be transported back in time! |
Parsonage School House students, 1894. Click to enlarge.
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Bibliography
- "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center. Minutes from June 6, 1828 have the Township Committee setting aside $45 "to be appropriated towards building a school house on the parsonage between Penns Neck and Dutch Neck."
- Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
- Lake, D J, and S N Beers. Map of the Vicinity of Philadelphia and Trenton from Actual Surveys By D.J. Lake and S. N. Beers. Assisted by F. Beers, L. B. Lake and D. G. Beers. Philadelphia, PA: C.K. Stone and A. Pomeroy, 1860. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full.
- "Country Sunday School With Interesting History. Trenton Sunday Advertiser. August 23, 1908.
- Ibid.
- “West Windsor.” Map. Scarlett and Scarlett's Fire Map of Mercer County, New Jersey, Including Trenton and Suburbs. Newark, New Jersey: Scarlett and scarlett, 1890.
- Pugh & Dowing, Civil Engineers and Architects. Map. Map of Mercer County New Jersey - Prepared from Government and Original Surveys. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Irving C. Hicks, 1903. https://hopewellhistoryproject.org/histdata/mercer-cty-1903-pugh-downing/.
- "Country Sunday School With Interesting History. Trenton Sunday Advertiser. August 23, 1908.
- “Penns Neck School Register - 1908-1909.” Trenton, NJ, 1908. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
- “Penns Neck School Register - 1909-1910.” Trenton, NJ, 1909. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
- “Penns Neck School Register - 1910-1911.” Trenton, NJ, 1910. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
- “Penns Neck School Register - 1912-1913.” Trenton, NJ, 1912. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
- “Three School Houses Bring Only $1,720.” Trenton Evening Times, November 28, 1917.
- Silcox, Irene, Silcox, James P., Stives, Fred E., Stives, Mary D. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1926. Located at the Archives of the Historical Society of West Windsor at the West Windsor History Museum.
- Kerani Enterprises Incl. Stives, Frederick J. “Deed.” Windsor, 1994. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County deed Book 2867, Page 190.
- Ibid.
- "Broadside,” Spring 2002. Newsletter about the history of the Schenck Farmstead, produced by the Historical Society of West Windsor.
- Trenton, Alyssa Mease/The Times of. “West Windsor to Open Museum at Newly Restored Schenck Farmstead.” nj, January 29, 2013. https://www.nj.com/mercer/2013/01/west_windsor_to_open_museum_at.html.
