The Frantz One-Room Schoolhouse
Written by Pamela Reilly in the A Place in Time category and the Spring 2024 issue Topics in this article: education, Eldred Township (Monroe County), Frantz One-Room Schoolhouse, Free School Act of 1834, National Register of Historic Places, one-room schoolhouses
The Frantz One-Room Schoolhouse, before and after restoration.
Courtesy of Tony and Renee Giordano
Set in the rural woodlands and farm fields of Eldred Township, Monroe County, the Frantz One-Room Schoolhouse served as a school for about 90 years, from its construction circa 1855 until 1945. In fall 2022 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of the important role such one-room schools played in public education in Pennsylvania and the dedication of the community to preserve the building and its history.
After the passage of the Free School Act of 1834, one-room schoolhouses were built throughout the state with the financial support of local school districts to meet the basic educational needs of children. The commonwealth provided design templates for school construction, giving many of the rural schoolhouses the same easily recognizable one-story, front-facing gable form.
Students at the Frantz schoolhouse, 1911.
Courtesy of Tony and Renee Giordano
In the mid-1800s Eldred Township built seven one-room schoolhouses to serve all the children in this agrarian district. The Frantz schoolhouse, named for the farmer who donated land for its construction, Jacob Frantz, is the best surviving example of the township’s one-room schoolhouses, as some have collapsed and others have been demolished or extensively remodeled for residential use.
The Franz schoolhouse stood vacant for decades before being rescued by local preservationists who also collected oral histories from former students. The Frantz One-Room Schoolhouse is open to the public for tours and special events, and it continues to play a role in public education by offering a step back in time.
Recent listings in the National Register of Historic Places include Elks Lodge BPOE No. 2, Philadelphia; Margaret Esherick House, Philadelphia; Fairelawn, Philadelphia; Fighter’s Heaven, Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County; First Baptist Church of Germantown, Philadelphia; Penn Asylum for Indigent Widows and Single Women, Philadelphia; Schaefferstown Historic District, Schaefferstown, Lebanon County; and Shrawder-Sittig House, Smithfield Township, Monroe County.
Pamela W. Reilly is a historic preservation specialist in the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office.