If you’re a history buff, or if you’re looking for a nearby, gas-miserly outing, you can take a history stayacation right here in Crownsville. Imagine stepping into a one room schoolhouse that took its first student 1724. The Anne Arundel Retired School Personnel Committee invites you to the Annearrundell County Free School.
The Free School is an historic site in the Lavall community off Rutland Road.
Howard Hall, an education veteran from the sixth grade classroom on up to his retirement as assistant superintendent for public instruction, is a member of the Free School Committee of the retirees’group with an encyclopedic knowledge of eighteen by twenty-five foot one room school house. He generously shared it with me.
Back in 1965, members of this group got the idea to save one of the
county’s remaining one room school houses. These educational relics were being sold for houses, bars, and shops. They had their eyes on one near Baldwin United Methodist Church. They got the idea, too, that perhaps they should get in touch with someone on the school board who had a little knowledge about these buildings. They found a Mr. McCann who took their notion one step further. Why not save the first one room school house?
With an idea of where it should be, the group set out to find what was left of the first one room school house. Three days later, they found it absolutely derelict. Vandals had broken all the windows and thrown the kitchen sink into the yard. Mother Nature had grown trees in it. They decided to tackle the restoration.
How does a group figure out what a 1724 building looked like? They found two resources. One was an architect with a background in archeology who understood the construction of the time. The other was the Hall of Records. They were able to go back to the source, The Act for the Encouragement of Learning and Erecting Schools in the Several Colonies or the Free School Act of 1723 passed by the Colonial
Assembly under the Lord Proprietor and Governor. The act vested authority for purchasing property and building schools to the Visitors. A minister headed the group included lawyers and businessmen – no women. The group’s minutes, including the first set authorizing the builder, provided the restoration crew with invaluable information.
The Visitors were authorized to purchase up to one hundred fifty acres of land for the building. The law mandated that the school be built in the middle of Anne Arundel County. Back then Howard County was part of Anne Arundel County so this site was nearly perfect. They bought one forty-nine and a half acres of God’s Well plantation for one hundred six pounds and spent another one hundred thirty pounds on the building. The schoolmaster would be permitted to till the land
and raise anything except tobacco. The local plantations didn’t want competition.
The first Free School’s first class was all boys. In 1806, the school enrolled Johns Hopkins and his brothers. They dropped out of school after their father freed the slaves. The Hopkins house still stands on Hopkins Road in Crofton.
The first schoolmaster, John Wilmot, owned property adjoining the school and probably didn’t live in the school’s loft. All subsequent teachers were men until 1853 when Elizabeth Green rang the school bell. She stayed until the Civil War. The wooden building was in near continuous use as a school for over one hundred fifty years. It was a dress shop during the Revolutionary War.
When a new one room school was built on Rutland Road, enrollment began to dwindle. Eventually it closed. The legislature owned the building and property until 1911 when they sold it to become a residence where three families in turn lived until the 1950′s. The last owner, a recluse, left it in disrepair for the local vandals to
finish off. The land was sold to a series of developers until the Lavall community was finally built.
Enter the retired teachers. They asked the developers to donate the building and an acre and a half to the school board. The teachers petitioned to made custodians. They wrote grants to the Maryland Historical Society and the Anne Arundel Historical Society. They raised donations to secure a county matching gift. A portion of the group’s membership dues went to the project, and generous member made gifts. They have put over a quarter of million dollars into the school.
They have a friendly agreement with the Lavall community. The residents keep an eye on the place. In return, the community uses the building for association meetings, their fall picnic, and Santa in December.
In 1991, the building was ready for visitors. One early group was a Central Elementary fifth grade class. They really got into the history. School marms conduct lessons. Students get befuddled by slate and pencils for writing. They enjoy standing in the fireplace. Half a class plus their tallest adult fit in the fireplace. One six foot five visitor stood erect in the fireplace.
The retired teachers love having children visit and make enthusiastic volunteers.
Thirty to forty volunteers operate the building and programs. They can adjust their program for students as young as first graders. One first grade class came dressed as colonists and brought lunch baskets.
Those interested in the history of this school and other one room schools can enjoy the photo collages with pictures from as early as 1900. Senior groups thrill at finding their schools. Many schools are pictured –both white and black.
The Free School is open every Sunday, June through October, from 1:00 p.m. through 4:00 p.m. The address is 1298 Lavall Road off Rutland Road. When MD 450 closes this summer for bridge reconstruction over the South River, visitors will have to approach the school from the south from Crofton.