S.S. #17 - Roxborough Township School / S.S. #17 - L'Ecole du Canton de Roxborough

, S.S. #17 - Roxborough Township School , This school was opened as a museum on July 1, 2000, as the Lost Villages Historical Society's Millennium project. Alice Ferguson, (last principal) and Hazel Grant (former teacher) returned to the school and cut the ribbon to open the school museum. , The school was used from 1870 to 1950. After, its closure as a school, the Avonmore Orange Lodge used this building as their lodge room. The peephole is still visible on the interior door, where the lodge members would give the password before entering. When the schoolhouse was acquired, there was a small swinging door on the back of this door. As well, there was a yellow square painted on the floor. This served as part of the service in the lodge work. Although it was removed, it is clearly visible on the floor, today., The stove is original to the school, having been moved out and then returned to its original location. The metal floor mat is in its original location. However, the Orange Lodge had moved it closer to the door. The nail marks may be seen on the floor., The original schoolhouse had a central door, and the exterior walls were covered with vertical board siding. At some time in the building's history the shiplap siding was added. Many of the pieces had to be replaced at the time of restoration in 1999, although attempts were made to keep as many of the old boards as possible. When acquired by the Historical Society, the building was covered in white clapboard. This was removed to reveal the red shiplap siding. The central door was moved to its present location at the time of the addition of the toilet closets, and the addition of the tongue and groove interior wallboards was made. At the time of restoration, the original central door opening was revealed. , The front porch is a restoration, although there was a front porch and a woodshed that extended across the entire front. This had collapsed, and much rot had set in. It was removed, and the present porch was added, patterned from the porch that existed on the Upper Eighth schoolhouse of Cornwall Township. Much of the shiplap material used in the restoration was from a garage formerly from the Lost Village of Mille Roches. This was the garage on the Sneddon property which had been moved to St. Laurent Avenue in Long Sault during the relocation. It was torn down in 1999, and the material was donated to the Lost Villages Museum by Brian Brandstetter., The marble stone in the chimney shelf is the cornerstone from Farran's Point Public School. This stone was found under the water of Lake St. Lawrence and donated to the Lost Villages Historical Society., The school desks tell a story of the changes in desks over the century. The only desk from a Lost Villages school is that from Sheek Island Public School, which was saved by Wallace (Wally) Barker, formerly of Sheek Island and now of Long Sault, and was purchased at his auction sale in 1999. The teacher's desk was donated by David Moss, former president of the Lost Villages Historical Society., The chalkboards come from various local schools. The bell tower roof is from the public school on the Upper Eighth of Cornwall Township. This schoolhouse did not have a bell tower, but this was added at the time of restoration due to the generosity of those who donated the bell tower roof and bell., The display case at the back of the classroom was a gift to the Lost Villages Historical Society by the former pupils of Miss Ruth Fowler. Miss Fowler, the last principal of Aultsville High School, passed away in August 2001, and her former students wished to recognize her contributions to the community and Historical Society. They had the display case constructed, and it now contains memorabilia from this school. George Hickey, a charter member of the Lost Villages Historical Society, and members Peggy Barkley and Mavis Nixon worked on this project, and officially presented it to the Lost Villages Historical Society on July 1, 2002., S.S #17 Schoolhouse, The Schoolhouse, or S.S #17, Township of Roxborough, is easily identified by its exterior of pine, shiplap siding painted red, cedar shingled roof and small front porch fitting the traditional image of the "little red schoolhouse" This one-room schoolhouse was built in 1869, and served the residents of the Township of Roxborough from 1870 until 1950. After its closure, the Avonmore Orange Lodge used the building as their lodge house. The peep-hole is still visible on the interior door, where lodge members would whisper the password, before being allowed entry., When the building was donated to the Lost Villages Historical Society in 1999, much restoration work was undertaken before its public opening on July 1st, 2000. Part of the Society's "Millennium" project, the schoolhouse was re-opened by Alice Ferguson, (last principal) and Hazel Grant (former teacher)., The restoration work began with the exterior. The original schoolhouse had a central door, and the exterior walls were covered with white clapboard. A little digging revealed that, under the clapboard, red shiplap siding had been added to the original vertical board siding. The Society made the decision to remove the white clapboard to preserve the look of a red schoolhouse. Many of the pieces had to be replaced but an attempt was made to keep as many of the old boards as possible. At the same time, the central door was moved to one side to accommodate the newly-built toilet facilities, and a small front porch was added. At one time, the building had a large front porch and woodshed which extended the whole front of the building. Due to neglect rot had set in, and the porch and woodshed had been removed long before the schoolhouse arrived at the Museum site. The pattern for the porch was taken from the porch on the "Upper Eighth” schoolhouse in the Township of Cornwall. Some of the materials used were part of a garage from the "lost village” of Mille Roches, moved to Long Sault prior to the flooding, and donated by Brian Brandsetter of Long Sault. The brick on the shelf of the chimney is the cornerstone from Farran's Point Public School. This stone was found under the water of Lake St. Lawrence, and donated to the Lost Villages Histori- cal Society. The bell tower on the roof is from the public school on the "Upper Eighth” of Cornwall Township., The interior of the building has been made to look as it would when the school was in use and filled with pupils. The school desks of various types tell a story of the changes in desks, over the century. The one desk, from a "lost village” schoolhouse, came from Sheek Island Public School. It was saved by Wallace (Wally) Barker, formerly of Sheek Island, now of Long Sault, and purchased by the Society at his auction sale in 1999. The teacher's desk was donated by David Moss, former president of the Lost Villages Historical Society. The chalkboards came from various local schools. The display case, at the rear of the room, was constructed as a gift to the Society from the former pupils of Miss Ruth Fowler. Miss Fowler, the last principal of Aultsville High School, died in August of 2001, and her former students wished to recognize her contribution to the community and to the Lost Villages Historical Society. It contains memorabilia from the high school. The items were collected and catalogued by Mr. George Hickey, charter member of the Society, and members Peggy Barkley and Mavis Nixon., [French text not transcribed]