The trail to saving and restoring the historic Munn Schoolhouse has moved another step forward. Currently located at 561 Oxford Road, this small structure was erected as a private school for boys in 1850.
The children boarded in the nearby Beardsley house and were taught by Mr. Marcus Munn. Later the building was used as a high school for older children with Mr. Munn still in charge. Of particular interest are the initials, home towns and dates that the boys carved into the support beams in the cellar.
The Valley Community Foundation has granted the Oxford Historical Society $9,000 to aid in the preservation of Mr. Munn’s one-room schoolhouse. The grant will pay for the necessary carpentry and reinforcement to enable transport of the building safely from its present location to the Historical Society’s Twitchell-Rowland Homestead Museum at 60 Towner Lane.
This generous VCF grant supplements what has been coming in this spring through donations to the Society’s Honor an Educator Program which recently topped $1000, mostly given in small amounts. Other funds have come from annual online donation campaigns and local community funders. Members of the society will be at community events this summer highlighting the progress of this project. Following OHS on Facebook keeps supporters up to date on activities and developments. OHS members receive an online newsletter featuring activity calendars and updates. Weaving all these lines of support follows the society’s familiar method for moving projects to completion.
Before the move, the roof of the 1850’s building will be taken off to allow the building to pass under the power lines on Route 67 as it travels to its new location. Once at the site, the building will be placed on a newly constructed foundation and prepared for the winter season. The Society plans to further restoration work of in the spring. When completed, the schoolhouse will serve as a living history experience for Oxford children and adults. Working with educators and the school staff, the Society plans to offer third graders the authentic experience of a day in a one-room school as part of their social studies curriculum.
Oxford Town Historian Dorothy A. DeBisschop praised the generosity and help of the Valley Community Foundation, which has been an important supporter of the Historical Society for many years.
Established in 2004, the Valley Community Foundation distributes hundreds of thousands of grant dollars each year to support the local nonprofit sector and the people it serves. In addition to grant making, VCF works in strong partnership with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, to promote philanthropy in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. To learn how your gifts of cash, life insurance, appreciated stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets can help to support the quality of life in the Valley, please visit the website at www.valleyfoundation.org or contact VCF President, Sharon Closius, at sclosius@valleyfoundation.org or 203 – 751-9162.
