YorksPast

Hively’s One-Room Schoolhouse

At the top of this illustration, I’ve pointed out, and marked, ten 1860 buildings in Hively’s Area within what is now Springettsbury Township. At the bottom of the above illustration is a 1937 aerial photo of the same region.

I’ve zoomed in on the 1937 aerial photo to provide better detail in locating the 1860 properties (w41) through (w50). If you are reading this on the Ydr.com site, click on this LINK for a Full View of the illustrations in this post on the original YorkBlog site; since the ydr.com site will occasionally cut off important details in the cropping of illustrations.

I’m working my way around Springettsbury Township until all buildings from 1860 are visited. See the post: Springettsbury Township building tally during 1860, for my specification of the four regions. With this post, I’ve completed an examination of the property owners for all 1860 buildings in the North, East and South regions of Springettsbury Township. Four more posts will complete this series; they will focus on the Pleasureville area in the West region.

Other posts in this series include:

• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-24 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 25-31 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 32-35 in North Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-30 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 31-35 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 36-41 in South Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-30 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 31-40 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 41-50 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 51-58 in East Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 1-10 in West Region of Springettsbury Township As a side note, when properties (w1) through (w10) were first visited, the precise 1860 owners of only two of the properties could be identified. Initial deed searches have now increased that number to seven. The 1860 owners of properties (w1) through (w10) will be posted upon the discovery of the final three.
• 1860 Buildings 11-20 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 21-30 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 31-40 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 51-60 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 61-70 in West Region of Springettsbury Township
• 1860 Buildings 71-80 in West Region of Springettsbury Township

Shearer’s 1860 Map of York County contains the owner/occupant of most buildings; for example (w45) is B. Loucks. Additional information on B. Loucks can be found by consulting the 1860 Census of the United States; where one discovers this is Benjamin Loucks, a 36-year-old, laborer, with $800 in real estate holdings.

The results after consulting 1860 Spring Garden Township census records are shown below. Spring Garden Township 1860 Census records must be used because Springettsbury Township was formed from the northeast part of that township on April 20, 1891. The order of visitation, of the census taker, often provides assistance on who are neighbors and the tabulation of “value of real estate” separates the landowners from the renters or tenants:

While buildings stand at several of the indicated locations, most of these structures appear to date to later than 1860. Only one of the mapped 1860 buildings likely still stands at this address:

• [w49] – 1723 Ridgewood Road (back a private lane)

Hively’s One-Room Schoolhouse [w48]

The site of Hively’s One-Room Schoolhouse was recorded as “at the northern extremity of the premises and plantation of Samuel Hively;” per York County Deed Book 5E, Page 90. In this deed of February 13, 1853, it appears a private schoolhouse was already on the 50-feet by 66.5-feet lot granted to the Directors of the Common Schools of Spring Garden Township.

The school was undoubtedly named for Samuel Hively, who owned large acreage west of North Sherman Street. Hively’s was a public school in Spring Garden Township and then Springettsbury Township from 1853 until 1929.

On Shearer’s 1860 Map, the school is on the northwest corner of North Sherman Street and Paradise Road. However on Beach Nichols 1876 Atlas of York County, the school is on the southwest corner of North Sherman Street and Paradise Road; which is where photographic evidence has the school being located, at least later in its life. It is possible that Paradise Road was moved from the south side of the building to the north side of the school. Or possibly the pictured brick schoolhouse of 1929 was a newer schoolhouse built on another corner of this intersection and the original schoolhouse was torn down, since no building exists on the northwest corner per the 1876 atlas.

In 1915, William C. Hively, and his wife Lizzie, donated a lot for a Chapel; to be used for the Hively Lutheran and Reformed Union Sunday School. This 1929 photo shows Hively’s Chapel (left side of photo) and Hively’s One-Room Schoolhouse (right side of photo) along North Sherman Street. Hively’s Park was located nearby. The surrounding area straddling North Sherman Street, just south of Pleasureville informally took the name Hivelytown or Hively’s for short.

With newer school buildings opening in the Pleasureville area, on March 30, 1929, the School Directors of Springettsbury Township sold Hively’s Schoolhouse to Hively’s Chapel. The photo provides a clue why Hively’s Chapel purchased the schoolhouse; it was torn down for more automobile parking. Today, the building, originally know as Hively’s Chapel still stands, with its side parking lot, on the southwest corner of North Sherman Street and Paradise Road.

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