West Branch Township’s old District 1 schoolhouse in rural Missaukee County, Michigan, has served as a landmark for my entire life. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever thought to take two photos of the building, and both of them suck! I’ll get a better shot next time I’m in the area.
The District 1 school was West Branch Township’s first schoolhouse. In 1872, James Nixon settled in the area. Charles Miller joined him joined him three years later. Somehow, the area was even more rural than it is today! None of the land had been cleared, and the only roads in the township led to a lumber camp on the west branch of the Little Muskegon River. Growth was slow in West Branch Township: at first, only two children lived in the township, so officials hired their mother to teach them1!
More people eventually came, so a log schoolhouse was built near the West Branch Cemetery. The school burned to the ground in 1882, so a frame structure was erected to replace it. In 1908, a third schoolhouse was built on a plot of land known as Mitchell’s Hill2. That year, fifty-two students were enrolled in classes3!
Apart from its district number, the schoolhouse was commonly known as the West Branch School and, later, Sunnyside4. By 1915, five common schools served students in West Branch Township5.
Unfortunately, the lumber industry eventually left. In 1922, only eight students attended classes at Sunnyside6! The schoolhouse was destroyed by fire in 1929, and a modern replacement was completed two years later7.
The Sunnyside schoolhouse closed in 1936 when its students were sent to a consolidated institution at Merritt in nearby Butterfield Township8. After the building was shuttered, it was used as a Grange Hall before it became home to something called the Sunnyside Club9.
In 1940, the school sat on land owned by Frank Potter10. Today, it’s a private residence. About twenty years ago, the owner added an enormous new garage to the south side of the old schoolhouse that obscures its landmark cupola from Cutcheon Road. That’s my turnoff to the property.
With four distinct faces featuring paintings of local fish and wildlife, the building’s belfry has played a significant part in my life. It signifies the end of a long drive up north or the start of a long trip back to Indiana! With any luck, it’ll continue to do so far into the future. I can’t wait to make it back up north to snag a better photo.
Sources Cited
1 West Branch Schools Date From Lumber Days (n.d.). Newspaper clipping. Missaukee County Historical Society.
2 Standard Atlas of Missaukee County Michigan (1906). George A. Ogle & Company. [Chicago]. Map.
3 Sunnyside School Earliest In West Branch Township (n.d.). Newspaper clipping. Missaukee County Historical Society.
4 Britton, B. (n.d.). Michigan Schools Missaukee County. Van Buren District Library [Decatur]. Web. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
5 Bowen’s Automobile and Sportsmen’s Guide for Michigan (1916). B.F. Bowen & Co. [Indianapolis]. Map.
6 (See footnote 3).
7 (See footnote 3).
8 (See footnote 1).
9 (See footnote 4).
10 Plat Book of Missaukee County Michigan (1940). Standard Map Company [Chicago]. Map.
How long since anyone has called a student a “pupil”? I used to hear it when I was in grade school, but then I had a handful of teachers who had been teaching before WWII.
Synonyms are tricky!