New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Beginning on Saturday, June 4, children can learn about schooling during the 1800s and try some fun hands-on activities and games each Saturday afternoon at the Old Stone Schoolhouse, 40 North Street, Fairhaven.
The Old Stone Schoolhouse is a restored one-room school that was originally built in 1828 to serve the Oxford district of Fairhaven. In the 1840s, Manjiro Nakahama, the first Japanese person to live in America, attended classes there. The schoolhouse remained in operation until the larger Oxford School was built in 1896. It will be opened by the Fairhaven Office of Tourism on Saturday afternoons from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. in June, July and August.
At the schoolhouse, children may sit at antique wooden desks and try writing with pen and ink or with chalk on a slate. They may also try some old-fashioned schoolyard games like jacks, marbles, and rolling a hoop. A guide will be on hand to talk about 19th Century education, classroom rules and discipline. There are photographs, antique school supplies, and old schoolbooks to see. There are also mannequins dressed in the clothes that were worn in the 1800s.
There is no admission charge, but donations are accepted. Please note the schoolhouse has no electricity or running water. There are no restroom facilities onsite.
For more information, you may visit www.fairhaventours.com or call 508-979-4085.
