Long Reach School House

Long Reach School House – Long Reach

Original Grant:

Deed Transfers:

Outbuildings:

History and Style:

The first two Long Reach School buildings no longer exist. Mrs. Zaidee Williams recalls being told by her father, Mr. Gorham, of the first Long Reach school, it was before his day of attending school. It was located on the South side of the Francis Smith Memorial Hall, where there is a large rock. The second school was in Carvell’s Hallow. It was on the side of the road opposite of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Donald McWhirter, on the lower side of the brook. This school ceased to be used, was moved to the property opposite of the old Williams house and was used as a store until 1966. It was torn down when the road was widened.

The building still standing was the third Long Reach School built in 1898-1899 and was in operation until 1965. This building now serves as a private residence. The schoolhouse served a three-mile district and had eight grades. The building was about 30 x 26 feet and was on a plot of land that was 70 x 80 feet. Girls’ and boys’ privies were on opposite corners of the lot. Inside the building were cloakrooms, each with a door leading into the main classroom. The teacher’s desk was on a raised platform. In front was a cylindrical wood stove that resembled an oil barrel. The stove pipe rose to the ceiling and ran horizontally to a chimney centered in the back wall. Shelves were hooked on each side of the stove. In winter, ink bottles, water bottles, and lunches were placed there to be kept thawed. Many a lad would leave a tight cover on an ink bottle, and the ceiling became well sprayed if the bottle froze and broke.

The first teacher in the school was Miss E. Tippett, who married Frank Gorham. Mr. and Mrs. Gorham were Zaidee William’s parents. Her three brothers and three sisters attended school here, and later, in 1925-1926, Zaidee taught in the school.

Long Reach school house had eight grades and served a three-mile district, a farming and lumbering community on the St. John River, from 1899 to 1965. In the year in which Zaidee was teacher, the Walton Lake school on the Williams Road was closed, and the children form this school were driven to the Long Reach school, as were a family near the home of Mrs. Eileen Nichols. The enrolment then was more than 30.

-      MRS. E. HART

It has since been renovated and is the home of the former president of Kingston Peninsula Heritage, Ms. Hope Hunter.