One room schoolhouse in Ohio
Bantam Ridge School, Wintersville Ohio
The Bantam Ridge School is the sole surviving remnant of an important phase of the township district school system from the 19th century. One-room schoolhouses were a common element of the education heritage of the country prior to the consolidations which resulted in the major school systems of today. Due to major encroachments from strip mining and the urban sprawl of nearby Steubenville, few of these early schoolhouses remain in the county. No others exist in Cross Creek Township and the Bantam Ridge School is significant for its high degree of structural integrity, retaining most of its interior and exterior detailing and finishes.
The Bantam Ridge School was built as a grade school for the Cross Creek Township Board of Education between 1875 and 1880. It served the first six grades until its abandonment in 1955. When threatened with demolition in 1977, the Original Bantam Ridge School Historical Society was formed and the building was acquired by the township trustees. They have been successful in relocating the structure.
The Bantam Ridge School is a rectangular single-story frame structure measuring approximately 20' x 30'. It sets on a cut and hammered sandstone foundation and is sided with horizontal wooden shiplap boards. The gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles, and has some cut-out barge board molding near the cornice line. A brick chimney pierces the center of the roof and a new belfry was constructed near the front of the ridge to replace the original damaged when the bell was removed after its abandonment in the 1950s. There are four openings on each side elevation with entrances in the gable end and to the rear of one side. The windows are tall and narrow with 9/9 double-hung sash and pedimented hood molds and curvilinear cut-out molding at the bottom of the sills. The interior has tongue and groove wooden flooring and narrow vertical beaded oak wainscoting around the interior walls. Slate blackboards line the front: of the room. The windows are framed with fluted oak molding.
The school was originally located immediately on the berm of the road with its side elevation parallel to the roadway, but local residents felt that it obscured clear vision and demanded that it be removed. The Original Bantam Ridge School Historical Society was created by former students and area residents to preserve the structure, and it was moved 30' away from the road and reset on its original foundation. The orientation of the building was rotated 180 so that the gable end now faces the road.
Facade and southern elevation (1980)
Window on southern elevation (1980)
