I’ve been venturing to my family’s property in Missaukee County, Michigan for thirty years. These days, most of those trips inevitably involve replacing supplies I forgot! From our gate, the journey to pick up a pillow or some camp fuel consists of a series of left-right-left-right cues that should be confined to a Nintendo controller. Eventually, the turns lead to Whipple’s general store in tiny Moorestown. I pass an old schoolhouse every time.
Moorestown is a tiny place with little more than Whipple’s, a church, the schoolhouse, and -get this- an airport. The village was founded by J. Henry Moores, who owned land prime with pine timber. Moores had spent a career logging on the Clam River before 1881 when he established a lumber camp that later became Moorestown1.
Norwich Township’s District 2 school was originally located a mile and a half southeast of Moorestown. It sat on land owned by A.C. Hunt2, so, naturally, it was known as the Hunt Schoolhouse3. By 1915, the school was situated at its present site in Moorestown. Ten students attended classes there, and two were eligible to graduate eighth grade4.
The present building was built sometime later. In 1940, it stood on a plot of land owned by William Cantwell5. I haven’t found much else about the school, but I know it operated as late as 19546. Fortunately, it appears as though the shuttered building is undergoing restoration7. I look forward to seeing it next time I pass through!
Sources Cited
1 Hirzel, F.C. (1949, May 28). History of Moorestown. MiGenWeb. Michigan Family History Network. Web. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
2 Missaukee County 1906 (1906). Ogle, George A. & Co. [Chicago]. Map.
3 Missaukee County Historical Society. Missaukee County Historical Society (2015, November 11). Moorestown Schoolhouse, the original building in earlier days called Hunt Schoolhouse (District Nr 2) – a mile east and a half mile [Comment]. Facebook.
4 Missaukee County Historical Society. Missaukee County Historical Society (2015, November 8). Moorestown Schoolhouse – 1915 – Norwich Township District Nr 2. Enrollment was 10 pupils out of a school census potential of 32 [Comment]. Facebook.
5 Plat Book of Missaukee County Michigan (1940). Standard Map Co. [Chicago]. Map.
6 Park, C. If you grew up in Missaukee County ..Do you remember…(2021, June 14). Mrs. Sherman’s class 1954 [Comment]. Facebook.
7 Bailey, T. & Shideler, T. (2025, May 10). Personal communication.
