Where was Raab’s One-Room Schoolhouse Originally Located; When was it Built?
Three weeks ago I showed that Neff’s One-Room Schoolhouse was moved from York Township to Red Lion sometime after 1971; I’ve been told Neff’s original location and will post it next week. It also appears that Raab’s One-Room Schoolhouse in York Township was moved sometime between 1915 and 1926 to its current location on the western corner of Fruitlyn Drive and Oak Road. This post looks at various maps to show how I reached that conclusion.
The map sections from 2012, 1926, 1915 and 1876 highlight an area of York Township at the Intersection of Fruitlyn Drive and Oak Road. It is on the western corner where Raab’s is currently located. All aerial photos and maps back through 1926 indicated the schoolhouse at the current location. I’ve seen a number of places on the Internet noting that Raab’s was built there in 1857; however no maps prior to 1926 contain symbols indicating a schoolhouse at that location. Was Raab’s moved from somewhere else?
The following 1860 map section of York Township highlights with a yellow circle the current location Raab’s. In 1860 there were no crossroads nearby. Raab’s Schoolhouse was supposedly already three years old; however in 1860 this location was in the middle of a large field owned by A. Raab. In 1860, Raab’s farm was at the end of a long lane that originated in what is currently Spry. Over the years, much of this long lane looks like it eventually becomes Oak Road. Here is a link for post on: The making of Shearer’s 1860 Map of York County, PA.
For orientation purposes, the following 2012 map section from Bing.Com exactly duplicates the York Township area shown in the 1860 map section.
York Township listed their schoolhouses in both the 1886 John Gibson’s History of York Co., PA (page 724) and in the 1907 George Prowell’s History of York Co., PA (Vol. 1, page 1107). Raab’s is not in the 1886 list, however it is in the 1907 list. Thus Raab’s was built between 1886 and 1907 at a different location in York Township, since the 1915 map does not show it at the intersection of Fruitlyn Drive and Oak Road.
In a future post I’ll show that maps have schoolhouses at many more locations than the number of schoolhouse names thus far discovered. Maybe one of those locations was the initial Raab’s site. Please reply to this blog if you can help in pinpointing the original locations of Raab’s schoolhouse.
Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts
