Restoration project complete at Centre County’s last one-room schoolhouse. Take a look

Nestled between the State College Regional Airport and the ever-growing Toftrees neighborhood sits a newly-renovated historical landmark that serves as the last of its kind in Centre County.

The Boogersburg School, located at 1021 Fox Hill Road in Patton Township, recently underwent a $216,000 restoration that saw work take place in and around the 147-year-old schoolhouse. The project was funded by a fundraising campaign through the Centre County Historical Society, which will thank those who contributed and show off the work during an open house Sunday.

Founded in 1877 by former Centre Furnace ironmaster Moses Thompson during the “common school” movement — a mid-19th century effort to establish one-room schoolhouses with public money in as many communities as possible — the Boogersburg School now stands as the last one-room schoolhouse out of 180 that used to be located in the county.

According to CCHS Executive Director Mary Sorensen, the main goal of the project was to make the school look as close as possible to how it looked in its heyday. After nine months of hard work, she believes that they nailed it.

“When we started to do the restorations, we actually had a teacher from the school’s later years in the area who remembered what it looked like, and she decided to help us out — that was such a benefit to us as we went through things,” Sorensen said. “With her help, and help from many other contractors and donors, the school is now looking just about as good as it did back then, and we really couldn’t be more pleased.”

The work started outside the school, with the cutting down of around 20 trees, including a “massive” Norway maple tree hanging over the property.

“That maple could’ve snapped and fell on the school at any time, and we really didn’t need that happening, so we made a call to take down that one, along with a few others to open up the building to some sunlight,” CCHS President Roger Williams said. “In hindsight, taking the trees down was a good call since we’ve been getting all those nasty windstorms lately, those derechos. One of those could’ve led to the school getting flattened.”

In addition to the felling of some trees, the school’s exterior and two outhouses each received a fresh coat of white paint, and a new, period-accurate wooden shed was built that contains the fuel once fed to the pot belly stove that was used to heat the school through the winter.

The inside of the school also received a new paint job in its original brown and tan colors. The building’s electrical wiring needed to be completely restored too, as that system hadn’t been touched since the early 1940s, Sorensen said.

The school’s original windows were also carefully removed and cleaned, and although the majority of the windows were able to be installed back where they were, some broke and were replaced with period-accurate, antique glass.

“Is it tougher to keep things antique, to keep things the way they were? Yes, it absolutely is, but that’s all a part of preserving this building in its near-original state for hopefully generations to come,” Sorensen said.

Williams agreed.

“Altoona has its railroads, Johnstown has its steel, Williamsport has its lumber ... State College though? We have our rich educational past, and preserving this school is helping preserve that past,” he said.

While the majority of the necessary restorations to the school have been completed, some are still to come, like the replacement of the school’s sign with a larger, more noticeable one.

A trail will also be built that will take visitors on a tour around the school’s property, but Sorensen and Williams said a timeline on that project is unclear due to weather unpredictability.

Now that most of the renovations have been completed though, tours and visits can be reserved at the school for organizations or people of any age. Some have already taken place this year, including some local elementary school field trips.

Those looking to attend this weekend’s open house for the Boogersburg School, which takes place from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, should anticipate parking on the adjacent lawn near the school and along Pleasant Hill Road.

At 1:30 p.m., CCHS representatives will honor the school’s history and those who have put work into renovating it. From there, visitors are welcome to explore the school, ring its iconic bell and receive a lesson from one of the historical society’s docents, or volunteers dressing as period-accurate teachers.

“It’s going to be a great event that I hope we can encourage a lot of people to come out to — and who knows, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about some rich Centre County history while you’re here,” Sorensen said.