This schoolhouse sits in Beacon Falls, Connecticut. It is being used as a flop house though it is generously covered with "no trespassing" signs. Sleeping or finding refuge in this forgotten schoolhouse, despite the prohibitions, is an ironic idea to me because so many of the students with whom I work do exactly that on a daily basis.
I always find myself bemused by these old buildings that are too venerable to knock down, yet undeserving of the attention they need to be preserved properly--like the relative who shows up for every family gathering though nobody seems to remember who they are or how, exactly, they are related.
40 Comments
The house has a long history....
ReplyDeleteI hope they can renovate the place and turned into something useful.
ReplyDeleteHappy WW!
Very cool Pic of that Old School house! Makes you wonder what they used to teach in there... Rhetoric perhaps
ReplyDeleteright on...
ReplyDeleteI hate it when historical buildings are allowed to decay. If they give it to a historical society and they will move them and restore them. There is one where we are staying now, an old farmhouse that is just crumbling. I am talking to management tomorrow about it. Its a crime.
ReplyDeleteMy WW is up if you wish to see it:
http://advertising-for-success.blogspot.com/2009/06/wordless-wednesday.html
We have a few one house school room buildings here. The Historical Society is preserving one of them, I'm happy to say. Seems like the one pictured here is a treasure that needs to be protected.
ReplyDeleteIt just needs love...Happy WW:)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, Sandy. It should be renovated, shouldn't it? It reminds me of a forgotten little church I discovered some days ago in the mountains. I'll make a post about it.
ReplyDeleteYour sense of irony is as wonderful as your photography Sandy. Students who do exactly that on a daily basis. I had to chuckle. Nothing to laugh at in the photo though. that's fine work there.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have relatives like you're describing... or maybe I am the relative you're describing. Don't have that many relatives left at all actually...
That is a great little school house /refuge. Found your account of it was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to be wordless on a Wordless Wednesday photo. That is why I switched to Watery Wednesday as I have too much to say!
That reminds me of old dairy factories all over Taranaki. Since the industry was all consolidated, most of them sit neglected. I wish I had the money to buy them and make something useful of them. It's sad in both our countries.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was kinda cute in its day. It would be nice if it could be restored.
ReplyDeleteI do like the expression 'Flop House' it fits it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAs a building yes it is a shame, we have old buildings that are left to rot, the owners can not afford to do them up and eventually they fall down lost for ever.. sad times some times :O)
Such buildings should be better looked after, definitely.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of character under that peeling paint, it just needs someone to give it some TLC.
ReplyDelete-------------------------------
Summer Stock Sunday is up and running - come join us!
old buildings are like old people: forgotten sometimes...
ReplyDeleteNature has already begun to reclaim the space it occupies. If the Historical Society wants to preserve it, they had better hurry.
ReplyDeleteGreat pic, but definitely has an air of sadness to it. Happy WW
ReplyDeleteHow sad that it is neglected! I bet it would be a neat place to visit if restored and used as a museum. Maybe it is too far off the beaten path tho. . . I especially like the double door.
ReplyDeleteDid you look up more info on it to see who owns it and the future plans for it? Maybe they already ahve memorabilia from it in a museum?
We have such a place here in Vancouver that is over 100 yers old but they have retored it and it is a place one can visit on certain days. They had to move it to a different site to save it from the chopping block.
seems like a haunted house....glad to hear from you again dear sandy...miss yah...take care!
ReplyDeleteReally great photo. I've seen a few of these in my region as well. You know these old schools have a wonderful story to tell.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. There is a kind of "purgatory" for some buildings, isn't there?
ReplyDeleteHaving just learned that there are thousands of American children now homeless trying to continue going to school makes me heartsick...forgotten children and forgotten schools...it's more than a shame...it's unthinkable...
ReplyDeleteSandi
I totally agree with you. My parents went to a one-room schoolhouse in the 60s. It was tough to see the school they went to torn down.
ReplyDeleteHappy WW! My WW is the first set of my wedding photos!
it reminds me of some of the old american houses here in the philippines. it was built during the times when the US was still occupying the philippines.
ReplyDeletethat makes me like this small room.
It is cute.
ReplyDeleteYou have described the state of some of these old buildings perfectly Sandy. If they have no notoriety thet remain unattended much like a forgotten relative. So sad because there is history in these buildings even if it is not high profile history and should be respected.
ReplyDeleteThanks for you WW post this week it was very good.
There is not only history in many of the old forgotten buidlings... there is possibility in them. If only....
ReplyDeleteThis particular one does seem to reflect the condition of education today. Needs for upgrading and re-inforcement being neglected... overgrown with weedy regulations and suffering from lack of involvement from those that misuse it.
Great photo... great post.
I enjoyed looking at this photo Sandy. I'm sure there's a lot of history attached to this house. It is well worth preserving. It reminded me of the schoolhouse on Little House on the Prairie.
ReplyDeleteI love old schoolhouses. It seems many in Maine are still in use. We white water rafted with the entire 8th grade from one such school - only 11 students! They whole school ony had about 300!
ReplyDeleteInteresting title for your school house photo ...
ReplyDeleteHugs and blessings,
What a great looking old building. I love old buildings.
ReplyDeleteI love buildings like this and you captured it well. Hope it stays around for many more years.
ReplyDeleteI too love these old friends, Sandy
ReplyDeleteYou are invited to a virtual celebration at my blog tomorrow (weds). Aloha-
hello sandy
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Sandy: I think it is neat when they preserve this building for history.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad to see a building with such character allowed to just fade. Well written and photographed.
ReplyDeleteNeat old building. I like your comparison between old building and the relative-fits it perfect.
ReplyDeleteI love this shot and your text is so eloquent. I actually like old building in disrepair aesthetically speaking although I also imagine them in their prime or renovated.
ReplyDeleteMany students have passed through those doors. There must be some great stories behind it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being here.