Rock School Day, 2009

Two hundred thirty years ago, the venerable old schoolhouse commonly referred to as the Rock School hosted its first class of Colebrook primary students. In Colonial days, there would have been eight grades seated in the one-room school, whereas the visiting class of 2009 consisted of the entire third grade of Colebrook Consolidated School.

The seating arrangements have changed and the woodshed now sports painted walls, but essentially what the third grade experienced on June 16 was what every class that attended the school saw and felt. To our knowledge, this schoolhouse is the only Colonial-era school that has never been modernized; there is no electricity or running water. There are no modern bathroom facilities. It started out with a two-seat backhouse and it still has a two-seater “out back.�

There has been one change, however, that the students of long ago would notice right away, and that is the location. Instead of sitting directly in front of the huge boulder on the southeast corner of the intersection of Colebrook Road (Route 183) and Sandy Brook Road, the building now sits on the northeast corner of that intersection, about 100 feet from where it was built in 1779. This change came about in 1971, about the time the Colebrook Historical Society acquired the building. How this came about is a story that is worth retelling.

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The town of Colebrook closed the school in 1911, due to declining attendance and better transportation methods. The remaining students within the district were transported to the Colebrook Center School, and the old schoolhouse sat alone and unused until the 1920s, when it was sold to a Norfolk family.

Fortunately for historical integrity, those owners used the structure only as a summer residence and never had electricity or running water installed. They were comfortable with using the outhouse and hauling what water they needed from the spring a few feet down hill. Remember this spring, as it has a bearing on events that took place later in the 20th century.

In the early 1950s, the last surviving owner passed on, leaving no immediate family. In 1954, the land immediately adjacent to the school property to the east, along Sandy Brook Road, was sold to Samuel Holden, who happened to have been the Litchfield County detective.

Sam had a house built about 100 yards down Sandy Brook Road from the corner where the school sat. One determining factor in the location of this house was the spring, situated high enough up hill to allow for gravity feed water in any room in the house.

Now we will fast forward about 13 years to the late 1960s. The property had been in legal limbo for nearly 15 years, with lawyers attempting to attract a buyer for the schoolhouse in order that the estate could be settled once and for all. The problem was that the front yard had dramatically shrunk over the years, having been reduced every time the State of Connecticut widened Route 183.

It was impossible to move the building back, as it already was tight up against the huge glacial erratic early residents had referred to as “the great stone.�

That wasn’t all. The spring, which now belonged to Sam Holden, supplied all his household needs and would be contaminated if a septic system were ever built on the schoolhouse property. The long and short of it was that the property was impossible to sell.

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The lawyers approached Sam and asked him to purchase it, as he, being the adjacent downhill property owner, was the only person who could reasonably buy it. Sam’s reply was that he had no need for the building, nor the small plot of land it stood on, so why would he purchase something that would only increase his taxes?

This dragged on for two or three years, with the lawyers making periodic advances to Sam, and Sam remaining adamant.

Finally in 1970, they said “Look, make us an offer, any offer; we’ve got to settle this estate.� Sam, more as a favor to the lawyer (who happened to be a friend of his), finally offered $1,500, which was immediately accepted before he could change his mind.

Now Sam was the proud owner of a building that was the same age as the town in which it was located, a fact that did not escape the attention of the Colebrook assessor, who duly adjusted Sam’s taxes.

Sam approached the Colebrook Historical Society, headed up at the time by Nancy Blum, who also happened to own the property across Sandy Brook Road, and said that he would donate the building to the society if it would move it off his property.

This was agreed upon, but agreeing to do something and actually getting results is not necessarily the same thing, and the situation dragged on for several months until Sam got another tax bill. At this juncture something was said to the effect that if the building was not removed from his property, he was going to tear it down. Society members replied, “Oh, you can’t do that!� to which Sam retorted, “Watch me!�

You might say that the fire was not only prepared, it was about to be lighted, and an emergency appeal for funds was begun with Nancy Blum announcing that she would deed the adjacent corner to the Colebrook Historical Society for the relocation effort.

The fundraising campaign was successful and the building was jacked up, the foundation stones were removed and reassembled in exactly the same order across the road, professional riggers were employed to make the move, and in March 1971, the old Rock Schoolhouse began the latest chapter in its long history.

The students of the third grade enjoyed what every class agrees is one of the brightest highlights of the school year when they relived a day at school in the mid-1800s.

Schools such as this, as well as the corresponding books and maps, liberally mixed with supporting efforts by dedicated members of the community, make for a powerful learning tool that money alone cannot buy.

Our guarantee is that next year Rock School Day will be every bit as enjoyable as this year (maybe better!).

Bob Grigg is the town historian in Colebrook.