In Oregon, schools were established shortly after people moved to the state. In the entire Douglas County, a few of the remnants belonging to those early education days are still visible.
One-room schools were a norm in the US from early 18th century up to the mid of 20th century. And, nearly 50% of all the American school kids attended such kind of institution.
A public system of school in Oregon was developed in the year 1849. Most of these comprised of one-room schools, comprising of just an individual teacher who taught up to the 8th grade.
The buildings of these schools were developed for function, just huge enough to contain the expected no. of students and tiny enough for the voice of a teacher to be heard from any corner of the classroom. Most of these one-room schoolhouses were painted white in color and also contained wood stoves for heat insulation.
Though one-room schools were broadly used, the Education Department of Oregon started pushing reform in 1914 and encouraged standardization of texts, teacher training as well as school design. School consolidation, by the year 1930, was elevated because of constant pressure imposed by the department as well as transportation advancements. This led to the closure of several one-room schoolhouses.
Notably, there are eighteen school buildings currently in the Douglas County and 27 school buildings are undetermined. However, not all of these historic schools are actually one-room schools.
