The Greathouse School

The building is a true testament to the way rural students were educated back in the day; one room with all ages. That is, of course, due to the small number of students in the area. Even to this day the building stands away from densely populated areas, but county school consolidation with current standards means that these little guys are very obsolete.

I really don't know that much about this place. It looks like it was probably used for a school until 1940's. Perhaps it was out of session earlier, but I would seriously doubt it stayed open much later than that. It was definitely used as a house later. The appliances would suggest that perhaps someone lived there in the late 1950's/early 1960's, but I hate to try to date appliances. I could be way off. Beyond that it has sat abandoned for years, but it has been pretty much left alone, which means the interior is pretty cool still. And what really makes this places amazing is that fact that vandals have not desecrated it. Yay!

The school as it looks off the main road.

The Grounds

The surrounding grounds were quite gorgeous. There was an old cemetery just beyond the small wooded area and a nearby recreational lake. This school was probably the center of small community back when it was built.

The back from a distance. The old entrance to the school. Now boarded up. The stone tablet that tells all.
The old bell tower that used to let students know it was time to learn. The other side of the building. The back of the building covered with ivy.

There was also a latrine and a well, which looks as if it was much newer than the rest of the premise.

The well. Still has some type of pumping mechanism. Looks much more recent than 1913. I'm sure it was put in later judging by the cinder blocks. The Latrine.
The chairs are still there.

Interior

Inside the building was the best part, as it usually is. In fact, the inside of this building was the most impressive I think we've seen to date. It was incredibly in good shape. It is always a desire for us to find a building that only age has affected it. This is probably the closest we will ever find to that. No vandals, no stupid grafitti...just old building. However, it looks like a dog made it in there once and tore up a chair looking for food. We "found" him in there. Poor boy didn't find any. It was sad. Anyway's, enjoy the pictures.

We made it in through the basement. What we found was, well that. It had some stuff, but not much. There was a ledge in the back with dirt and some dead plants. They could have been planted, but most likely just grew themselves. There was also a furnace looking thing.

Looking in the basement from the our entrance. Looking back against the wall. The furnace thing.
Look what's inside. The broken and very unstable stairs leading to the main level. Entering the main level.

The main level was the best part. We went up the broken stairs which led to a foyer, which was the aforementioned old entrance. From there there was an additional small staircase which led to the main level. That staircase is shown as the "entering the main level" picture. The setup was pretty unusual. This was mainly due to the fact that it was partitioned later to make more rooms. I think originally it had 3 rooms. The big room was used for the classroom and the other rooms were offices. Now there was a room up the stairs which led into another room, which looks as if both rooms were used as the kitchen area. Then it led into two rooms. One had a heater and a chair and the other one had a bed, which had a doorway connecting them. Of course, this could have just been one huge room too. It was difficult to tell if the wall between the kitchen and the other rooms was added later, but the wall between the living room and bedroom was considerably lower than the ceiling so it's pretty obvious it was added later. Also, you could see wires hanging around for the lights, which was pretty interesting because it shows that this place may not have had electricity when it was a school. Who knows. Maybe it's tenure as a school ended much earlier than we thought.

Looking back down towards the foyer. The first room you get to when you exit the staircase. The same room facing the chair just to give it the proper attention.
The same room facing some old kitchen equipment. The adjacent room. To the right are the other two rooms which will be shown soon. A close up of the table from the same room.
Other side of the same room. Through the door to the right is the first room. Some artwork found in this room. Could it be from the school?

Also in the first room was the access to the attic. Those pictures will be saved for last, but they aren't that great. This room looks like it was later converting to the "living room." There was a furnace and a chair which was devoured.

The same room facing some old kitchen equipment. The adjacent room. To the right are the other two rooms which will be shown soon. Other side of the same room. Through the door to the right is the first room.

The "Bedroom." It really looked like something out of "Silent Hill."

The bed from the kitchen. The bed from the angle of the other room. Facing out toward the kitchen.

The Attic.

We got pretty excited about this part only to be let down. We though it would lead us to the clock tower, and maybe it does, but we couldn't find how. The way up was barely large enough for me to fit up.

The room from the first room we entered. It looked to be a closet with a ladder. This is also where we found what was left of the dog. Attic. Other side.

Overall, one of the best places we've been to. It was very refreshing to see a building that still had history to it and wasn't completely destroyed. We made sure we honored it's reverence and left it just as we found it. If you do find this place, please treat it with respect. It is an amazing find and should be left this way.

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