Cliffs School Museum, a gem of a visitor’s attraction, will be open August 17 and every third Saturday each month through October, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Located just 8.5 miles from Chestertown, on Quaker Neck Road, Rt. 289 S, this little one-room schoolhouse opened in 1878 to children of farming and watermen’s communities. Seven grades were taught in one room, complete with chalkboards now preserved with lessons for a typical day for all grades. There was a potbellied stove which kept the children warm in winter and heated their soup for lunch. It’s still there. George Washington’s portrait can be seen above the blackboard in the front of the room and a desk belonging to Col. George Vickers serves as the teacher’s desk. School desks are sized according to the age of the children who attended, so big kids and little children can have a seat and look over the wonderful old schoolbooks from that era. The school was closed in 1939 and is one of two one-room schools in Kent County to remain in its original configuration. Many artifacts of the era are on display, such as schoolbooks,a communal water bucket and a windup Victor Victrola from the early 20’s.
The museum has been the preservation and restoration project of the Port of Chester Questers since 1993. Volunteers from The Retired Schoolteachers Association of Kent County assist the Questers as docents at the school. The purpose of Questers International is to create the desire to study and appreciate antiques and objects of art and to be involved in preservation and restoration of historic landmarks. There are currently five active chapters in Kent County.
It is a lovely drive from Chestertown to Cliffs City with views of the Chester River, farms and fields, old churches and graveyards. Summer school classes and those during the regular school year are most welcome. There is no admission charge. To check out the web page, go to www.kentcounty.com/attractions/museums.php. For more information or guided tours call Maggie Smith 410-778-2529 [email protected] or Jean Foreman 410-778-3098 [email protected].
Bill Anderson says
I attended a one-room school in Still Pond, which was home to pupils in grades one through six, from September 1947 until the school was closed in June 1951. At that point, elementary school children could attend either the Betterton or Chestertown Elementary school.
The Still Pond building was later acquired by a Community organization and later sat for some years unoccupied. It was eventually sold to a private owner and has changed hands at least once since then. It appears to now be again unoccupied and would be a great acquisition for the County to preserve as one of the last on-room schools. This school also had pot-bellied stoves, and a roll-down center partition which could divide the building into two rooms, which was handy in the winter months so as to be able to be heated by just one of the stoves, burning coal. The structure had a frame addition on each end of the building which have since been removed, and it sits on probably about a five acre piece of land.