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Mill School

School Name: Mill School

District Number: 1

Location: 64255 Wolcott Road

Year School Was Built: 1863

Years of Operation: 1863 to 1953

Grades: Kindergarten through eighth grade

Property History: In 1875 and 1895, the school was located on property owned by Arad Freeman. By 1910, Eugene Miller rented the property. In 1916, the school was located on property owned by the Krueger family. The building was used as the Ray Township Hall for ten years. It was also used for family reunions. In 1983, the school building became the Ray Township Library and still continues to serve in this capacity today.

Note: On the 1859 plat map, schoolhouse No. 9 may have educated the students from this area. Schoolhouse No. 9 is shown on the east side of Wolcott Road north of 28 Mile Road on the property of Joel Thompson. Another schoolhouse may have been on the northwest corner of 29 Mile Road and Wolcott per the 1859 plat map.

Building Architecture: Greek Revival. The frame structure was built by neighborhood farmers. Traditional one-room school house design, 26 ft wide by 40 ft deep. One story front-gable, clapboard building, topped by a double-gabled open belfry. A horizontal pediment surmounts the unadorned entrance transom. Raised triangular pediments surmount four-over-four lights, and an asphalt shingled roof tops the structure. Named because of its close proximity to the Wolcott Mill.

Current Status: The building serves as the Ray Township Public Library

Former Teachers: 1900 H.C. Whiting; 1914 Nellie Tewksbury; 1915–17 and 1945 Edith Teller; 1918 Emma G. Hayward; 1919 Melissa H. Fox; 1920 Ruby Brown and Mable Crull; 1923 Eva M. Spence; 1924 Kathleen Bowler and Harold J. Ehle; 1928-29 Elizabeth Jacob; 1934-35 Mrs. Ruby Robertson; 1951 to 1958 Leona Hosner;

Former Students: 1900 – Arthur Clemons; Fred C. Miller; Jacob Ritter. 1914-24 – Esther, Viola, & Winnifred Bauman; Hilda, Lloyg, & Roy Bettcher; Helen Myrtle & John Curtis Burns; Floyd & Hazel Chapman; Ella, Francis, Fred, & Marie Campbell; Ethel?, Milton, & Sarah Clark; Howard Cooley; Clarence & Fred Diener; Ethel, Lissa, Merle, Olive, & Robert Fox; Dora Galep; Orville Holmes; Clyde, Nellie, & William Hotchkiss; Dorothy, Earl, Edwin, Helen, Lucy, Margaretta, Myrtle, & Zella Haughton; Edward, Harold, Irene, Leslie, Marie, & Walter Job; Agnes, Ida, Mary, & Sophia Kagmurczac; Carl, Carl, Earl, Helen, & Mable Klusendorf; Arlo, Eleanor, Mark, Ruth, & Russell Kirkum; Adam, Frank, Regina, & Veronica Kur; Clarence & Dorothy Lang; Kenneth, Phyllis, & Thea Crystal Madsen; Adele (Delia), Alva, Florence, Ora, & Ralph Mills; Adele, Anna or Arnie, Edward, & Otto Paetow; Florence & Margaret Potter; Alma, Carol, Charlie, Donald, Fred, Esther, & William Read; Kenneth, Lola, & Sarah Ritter; Reuben & Robert Schroeder; Erwin, Ester, Irving, John, & Lillian Schade; Chester, Jennie & Josa Siemietkoska; Roger Smith; Lena, Selma, & Wesley Teller; Edward, Elizabeth, & Orville Tewksbury; Carl, Clarence, Harold, Marie, & Ruth Tibbits; Marjorie Verna; Berle, Bessie, Blanche, Harold, Ida, Mildred, Vera, & Weta Ward; Evelyn, Gerald, & Philip Whiting; Lewis & Margaret Wolcott; Dora Yern. 1928-29 Gladys Haughton; Ed Jacob; Irene Job; Russell & Ruth (Chase) Kirkum; Carl Klusendorf; Mildred Miles; Jack & ? Miller; Edward, Elizabeth, & Jean Tewksbury; Aaron & Sydney Smith; Harold Ward; Evelyn, Gerald Whiting. 1934-35 ? Badora; Lottie ?; Hazel & Shirley Conley; Bill Diener; Lowell & Phyllis Fox; Evelyn & Russell Kirkum; Donna Nelson; Beatrice, Jenetta, & Phyllis Paetow; Doris & Helen Schmidt; Donna, Bill, Bob, Norman, Phyllis, & Reva Teller; George Visnick; Bruce & Elton VoVilla; Bessie, Blanche, Vera, & Weta Ward;Howard & Phillip Whiting; Crystal (Teller) Wolcott. 1946-47 Gertrude Braun; Judy (Baker) Chase; Ernie, Jerry, & Marilyn Cutler; Fred & Harold Diener; Shirley Hicks; Bonnie Job; Donald & Bonnie Lonser; Beatrice, Jenetta, & Phyllis Paetow; Donald Pence; Michael Roberts; Louis Jay Schram; Clifford Schroeder; Barbara (Jersey), Dean, Jim, Linwood, Mary Jane, & Tom Teller; Dennis & ? Whiting; Fred Wolcott. 1951 to 1958 – Joseph & William Bruce Boushelle;

Memorable Moments: In 1953, the Mill School District No. 1 consolidated with the Romeo School District and the property was transferred to the Township of Ray. Elections and community meetings were held in the building for many years. In 1983, the building became the Ray Township Library. In February 16, 1989, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Compiled: May 2010
By: T. Goike, C. Firestine, D. & R. Heldt