In the late 1800s, country schoolhouses dotted the landscape on the edges of local farms. They usually had one or two rooms; the two-roomed schools seated first through fourth grade in one room, and grades fifth through eighth in the other. Each classroom had a wood burning stove for heat and a water bucket and dipper for drinking. The students used slate boards and white chalk for schoolwork, and often, schools would be dismissed for a few days in the fall for students to help with harvest.
located about a mile south of Elwell on the Whitehall farm
nearly two decades before Johnstown was founded.
school building served all grades in four spacious rooms.
Built in 1904, Johnstown Union High School was the first multi-classroom brick school building that replaced some of the smaller wooden structures shortly after Johnstown was founded. This square four-room building was erected on the hill on Charlotte St. at what is now St. Charles Ct. It had two rooms upstairs and two downstairs. It was adjacent to the old bus garage, where Little House restaurant is located now. The school’s original east-side steps, similar to the front steps shown in the photo, are still there.
In 1918, the school was remodeled into a grade school. Union High School was dissolved in 1920 and was replaced by Johnstown High School. In the spring of 1922, the new high school building was completed and all the high school students carried their books and materials over to the new building from the remodeled grade school next door to the east. Elva (Gray) Shultz wrote in 1932 that she recalled as a student there that “The new building seemed like a palace. It was so large and light. The arched hallway on the first floor was so unusual it made me catch my breath. That was a natural reaction when you realize the building cost $150,000.”
The school district was consolidated in 1962, and students from Johnstown and Milliken attended high school together at the original Theodore Roosevelt High School at 616 N. 2nd St.
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In this ongoing series, we feature a piece from our Museum Director, Billie DeLancey, originally published in The Johnstown Breeze on September 25, 2025. Enjoy this look back, and keep an eye on the paper for the newest stories shaping our community.
Sources: Excerpted in part from A Tribute To Johnstown, Rebecca S. Healy, 1977