Saturday, June 27

Local History

Historic Reflection: 1854 – Early West Unity School

By Newspaper StaffJune 27, 2026No Comments2 Mins Read

Colorized photograph of West Unity School House, circa 1874 — the 1854 school building — SCHOOL … West Unity’s first school was a log structure near Rings Cemetery. The log school was replaced by a wooden frame building on the southwest corner of Jackson and Main streets. In 1854 the schoolhouse shown in this historic photograph was constructed at the southeast corner of School and Church streets. The contractor was Rev. George Money. The two-story wooden frame building was 52 feet by 32 feet and was topped with a belfry. In 1878 West Unity’s first brick school was completed on a hill west of South High Street at a cost of about $10,000. This facility was destroyed by fire in November 1897. In September 1900 an imposing $19,000 brick and limestone building opened for classes on the site. A high school was completed in 1921 next to the 1900 building. In 1980 the 1900 school building was razed. On January 4, 2010, the Millcreek-West Unity School District’s new $20.7 million K-12 facility on West Jackson Street opened for classes. Visible on the left in this circa 1874 vintage image is the West Unity Church of God, located at the northwest corner of Church and School streets. This brick house of worship was formally dedicated on January 4, 1874. This colorized photograph of the 1854 West Unity school is from the Kevin Maynard collection. Do you have a Williams County Historic photo you would like to share? Email: publisher@thevillagereporter.com.

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