Artist Compendium: Visiting old Morrow County schools -- following th...

Artist Compendium: Visiting old Morrow County schools -- following th...: Searching old Morrow County Schools an extensive list of 75 was discovered as shown below. The search was prompted by a topographical map th...

Visiting old Morrow County schools -- following the trail

Searching old Morrow County Schools an extensive list of 75 was discovered as shown below. The search was prompted by a topographical map that included old school locations. I wrote a story based on one school called "Bluejay," as that was where my grandmother once taught the first eight grades in one room.

That story elicited a response from David Shade, a former elementary school student that I knew from Mt. Gilead, Ohio. He called attention to another school called, "Liberty." He knew about this because he and his family lived in the old school that was converted to being a farm house.

With his help, I located the Liberty School on what was once called Shade Corners. Interestingly, his sister was born in the house and her name is "Liberty."

1.    Bailey School    Mount Gilead
2.    Baldwin School    Ashley
3.    Beech Grove School    Denmark
4.    Bethel School    Denmark
5.    Bethel School    Chesterville
6.    Blackbird School    Marengo
7.    Blackhawk School    Marengo
8.    Bluejay School    Mount Gilead
9.    Boundary School    Mount Gilead
10.    Center School    Ashley
11.    Center School    Blooming Grove
12.    Chester School    Chesterville
13.    Chestnut Grove School    Marengo
14.    Chestnut Ridge School    Blooming Grove
15.    Cohan School    Caledonia
16.    Craley School    Blooming Grove
17.    Davis School    Mount Gilead
18.    Dudley School    Marengo
19.    East Miller School    Shauck
20.    Fairfield School    Chesterville
21.    Fairview School    Chesterville
22.    Fairview School    Mount Gilead
23.    Flowers School    Galion
24.    Frozen Hill School    Mount Gilead
25.    Gardner School    Chesterville
26.    Goose Heaven School    Marengo
27.    Gordon School    Chesterville
28.    Greenwood School    Ashley
29.    Guiding Star School    Mount Gilead
30.    Half Acre School    Blooming Grove
31.    Harbison School    Blooming Grove
32.    Hardscrabble School    Denmark
33.    Hawkins School    Olive Green
34.    Hunters School    Galion
35.    Jackson School    Centerburg
36.    Jackson School    Chesterville
37.    Jugs School    Blooming Grove
38.    Krott School    Ashley
39.    Liberty School    Mount Gilead
40.    Lone Star School    Mount Gilead
41.    Long School    Denmark
42.    Maple Grove School    Mount Gilead
43.    Miller School    Shauck
44.    Miracle School    Shauck
45.    Morehouse School    Ashley
46.    Mount Pleasant School    Shauck
47.    Nelson School    Galion
48.    North Canaan School    Caledonia
49.    Oaklawn School    Marengo
50.    Oliveroot School    Marengo
51.    Peoples School    Shauck
52.    Phillips School    Marengo
53.    Pleasant Hill School    Blooming Grove
54.    Pleasant Valley School    Blooming Grove
55.    Pompey School    Ashley
56.    Railroad School    Marengo
57.    Red Hill School    Chesterville
58.    Salem School    Denmark
59.    School Number 1    Shauck
60.    School Number 1    Ashley
61.    School Number 2    Ashley
62.    School Number 4    Shauck
63.    School Number 5    Mount Gilead
64.    School Number 6    Mount Gilead
65.    School Number 6    Ashley
66.    School Number 7    Ashley
67.    Schorr School    Waldo
68.    Seifs School    Galion
69.    South Miller School    Shauck
70.    Stackhouse School    Shauck
71.    Stilers Corner School    Marengo
72.    Sunfish School    Mount Gilead
73.    Turney Center School    Marengo
74.    Vail School    Chesterville
75.    Walters School    Blooming Grove

Also read this related story: http://artistcompendium.blogspot.com/2016/08/morrow-countys-old-schools-disapeared.html

Liberty School

Tographical Map showing the Liberty School

Google Earth, locating Liberty School

Morrow County's old Schools disapeared

Having discovered an old topographical map of Mt. Gilead and surrounding Morrow County, it shows the location of schools that once populated this rural community. Why were there so many schools? Speculating about the possibilities:

• Children had to be able to get to and from schools that were walking distance from their homes.
• If they could not walk, they had to be ported by horse-drawn wagon, and both the condition of the road and distance were also factors.
• School buildings were small and accommodated multiple grade levels.

My Grandmother, Marguerite Showalter George taught the first eight grades at the BlueJay School, for instance. That was before she raised her two boys and two girls.

Another website reports pictures of some of the old schools that have been demolished. It is just a shame that we didn't have the foresight to preserve them.

Just look at all of these old schools.

Bailey School    Mount Gilead
Baldwin School    Ashley
Beech Grove School    Denmark
Bethel School    Denmark
Bethel School    Chesterville
Blackbird School    Marengo
Blackhawk School    Marengo
Bluejay School    Mount Gilead
Boundary School    Mount Gilead
Center School    Ashley
Center School    Blooming Grove
Chester School    Chesterville
Chestnut Grove School    Marengo
Chestnut Ridge School    Blooming Grove
Cohan School    Caledonia
Craley School    Blooming Grove
Davis School    Mount Gilead
Dudley School    Marengo
East Miller School    Shauck
Fairfield School    Chesterville
Fairview School    Chesterville
Fairview School    Mount Gilead
Flowers School    Galion
Frozen Hill School    Mount Gilead
Gardner School    Chesterville
Goose Heaven School    Marengo
Gordon School    Chesterville
Greenwood School    Ashley
Guiding Star School    Mount Gilead
Half Acre School    Blooming Grove
Harbison School    Blooming Grove
Hardscrabble School    Denmark
Hawkins School    Olive Green
Hunters School    Galion
Jackson School    Centerburg
Jackson School    Chesterville
Jugs School    Blooming Grove
Krott School    Ashley
Liberty School    Mount Gilead
Lone Star School    Mount Gilead
Long School    Denmark
Maple Grove School    Mount Gilead
Miller School    Shauck
Miracle School    Shauck
Morehouse School    Ashley
Mount Pleasant School    Shauck
Nelson School    Galion
North Canaan School    Caledonia
Oaklawn School    Marengo
Oliveroot School    Marengo
Peoples School    Shauck
Phillips School    Marengo
Pleasant Hill School    Blooming Grove
Pleasant Valley School    Blooming Grove
Pompey School    Ashley
Railroad School    Marengo
Red Hill School    Chesterville
Salem School    Denmark
School Number 1    Shauck
School Number 1    Ashley
School Number 2    Ashley
School Number 4    Shauck
School Number 5    Mount Gilead
School Number 6    Mount Gilead
School Number 6    Ashley
School Number 7    Ashley
Schorr School    Waldo
Seifs School    Galion
South Miller School    Shauck
Stackhouse School    Shauck
Stilers Corner School    Marengo
Sunfish School    Mount Gilead
Turney Center School    Marengo
Vail School    Chesterville
Walters School    Blooming Grove

Morrow County Historical Schools

Let's take a Google Maps tour to see where BlueJay School was once located.

Here is a link to some old pictures.

http://www.oldohioschools.com/morrow_county.htm

Marguerite Showalter George taught the first 8 grades at BlueJay School.

The location was on Russell Road in Harmony Township, Morrow County.

The topography is shown here.

Google Earth shows the lane to the demolished school location.

Artist Compendium: Fossils in the Sycamore Creek

Artist Compendium: Fossils in the Sycamore Creek: Limestone containing fossils lines the Sycamore Creek here in Montgomery. Unlike the Sugar Creek near Centerville, Ohio, the Sycamore doesn&...

Fossils in the Sycamore Creek

Limestone containing fossils lines the Sycamore Creek here in Montgomery. Unlike the Sugar Creek near Centerville, Ohio, the Sycamore doesn't appear to hold as many loose fossils. I won't know that until I get into the bed to explore.

I can begin right outside, but having already encountered a water snake, insects and poison ivy, I am more likely to venture there in the fall and winter months. Beyond the backyard, the Sycamore travels through Twin Lakes Woods where I think that it goes much lower in the Earth than where I live. There is a chance that I might discover more fossils at that level when I hike there in the fall.

Ticks are a reason that prevents my getting into that area now. Lymes disease is something I need to avoid.

I found this YouTube video describing rocks along the Little Miami River into which the Sycamore Creek runs on its way to the Ohio River.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57wk7iCrsT4

Fossiling in Ohio

Specimens already found

Artist Compendium: Turning leaves

Artist Compendium: Turning leaves: Having lived on the tenth floor of a high-rise for the past 14 years, I witnessed the Lacey Woods that grew on the steep rise adjacent to Ha...

Turning leaves

Having lived on the tenth floor of a high-rise for the past 14 years, I witnessed the Lacey Woods that grew on the steep rise adjacent to Hall's Hill in Arlington, Virginia. George Washington once surveyed the area and selected the location as where he might one day settle. Having inherited Mt. Vernon, he gave it up.

Lacey Woods hosted many tall trees including oaks and maples. From where I sat, I never experienced the falling leaves.

Now, situated along the Sycamore Creek in Montgomery, Ohio, I experience the seasons at ground zero. At the studio-patio level, I am 15 feet from the creek bed and literally in the honeysuckles. At the living room level, I am above the honeysuckle and can see the grapevines growing onto the sycamore, walnut, and maple trees.

Looking across the creek, I see red leaves that I first confused to be flowers. They are the turning leaves on five-leaf ivy.

The heat has taken its toll, and trees having been giving up their leaves. I don't know if this is early or normal, but I sweep them up every day.

Across the creek

Living room view

Birdwatching

Just before a hot drizzle outside today, I sat on the couch by the living room window and noticed an extraordinary amount of bird activity. I don't know much about birds, yet I now have an excellent perch from which to watch them. Situated 15 feet from Sycamore Creek, with the second floor overlooking the tops of Honeysuckle bushes with the Sycamore and Walnut trees towering above, many species visit and stay for the summer.

I have birdwatching friends who participate in the migration counting each season. They have heightened my awareness about the species living here.

When there are changes in the weather, such as a front moving through and such, birds, seem to react. Of course, birds also respond to the cycle of insects morphing from one state to another. Insects too probably respond to weather conditions, and birds exploit that behavior.

I called to my wife to witness the activity, and she too saw lots of birds while I snapped my camera to try to capture them. It is tough to take their pictures because they are fast moving and camouflaged in the undergrowth.

I snapped away, aiming in their direction, trying to get lucky. As usual, there are only glimpses hidden in the leaves. I have a witness that we saw much more than a camera could capture. There is only one thing left to do to create the experience more effectively, and that is to paint it.

Here is a representative view in which birds are active.

Here is one image that captures a bird from the rear view, blocked by a stem.

Here is a chickadee, out of focus because it is an enlargement.

The only way that you can see this bird is as a silhouette. 

The species is unrecognizable.

Birds by the Sycamore Creek

Resting in my anti-gravity chair one-quarter mile from the spot where settlers first arrived here in 1795, I am situated in the bank of honeysuckle bushes, elm, sycamore, walnut, grape vines and ivy of various kinds watching birds.  At a temperature in the mid-80s, I am tempted to close my eyes for a nap. In the shade, it is comfortable so long as that cloud stays put to block the direct sun. Of course, clouds don't stay put.

Watching and listening for signs of anything that moves is the game here. A crow hunts along the creek by hopping from rock to rock. The black-throated blue warbler darts from my side of the creek to the other chasing his mate that is brown in color. A blue jay is higher in the trees as it seems to be in pursuit of a purpose.

The bird that has the greatest focus it looks are the woodpeckers. One has zeroed in on insects buried in the tree bark directly in front of me. I tried taking a picture with my camera, but the bird was circling the trunk, moving up and changing locations too fast. The only thing for me to do is to remember it so that I can create an impression. Here it is.

Bird Watching by James George