Picture this. A tiny brick schoolhouse stands before you. This is Schmuhl School a New Lenox treasure. It’s not just any schoolhouse. This one-room wonder whispers stories of simpler times.
Schmuhl School is one of many early country schools that once dotted Will County. Imagine children walking miles to class cutting across fields and fences. This wasn’t always the case. The original Schmuhl School was a wooden building. That one burned down around 1932. No one knows why.
The brick school you see today rose from the ashes in 1933. It was quite modern then. It boasted a furnace electricity water and even indoor toilets. All eight grades shared the single classroom. About twelve students filled its desks.
Teaching here wasn’t easy. The teacher earned only $80 a month. Five dollars went to their pension. Their job wasn’t just teaching. They cleaned the building too. They also had to stoke the furnace all winter.
After World War II things changed. The school was divided into two classes. Lower grades went upstairs. Older students were downstairs. There was no library. A book lady visited with fresh stories. A milkman delivered milk in glass jars. Children brought their lunch in pails. Sometimes a music teacher stopped by to brighten their day.
School district consolidation ended Schmuhl School’s run in the 1950s. The New Lenox Area Historical Society saved it from demolition. They moved it in 2000. It now sits on the Hickory Creek Barrens.
Today Schmuhl School is a Will County landmark. It’s a living museum. Children visit to experience a one-room schoolhouse. They learn about a time before computers and the internet. A time when a simple pail held a child’s lunch. A time when the teacher’s voice filled a single room. A time when Schmuhl School truly was the heart of its community.