What's that? Greensburg Salem one-room schoolhouse preserves past for students

Editor’s note: “What’s That?” is a recurring feature in the Tribune-Review’s Westmoreland Plus edition. If there’s something you’d like to see explored here, send an email to gtrcity@tribweb.com.

Atop a hill, tucked behind Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary in Southwest Greensburg, a building-sized time capsule is only a few steps outside the school doors.

The replica one-room schoolhouse, which is visible to anyone peeking through Hutchinson’s classroom windows and exit doors, has stood at the site since 2001. From the outside, its log-cabin exterior is a trip back in time, and inside, artifacts, hand-carved desks and donated collections flesh out a unique historical attraction.

Former principal Jeff Mansfield, one of the original champions of the project alongside the late former fire chief Ed Hutchinson and former superintendent Thomas Yarabinetz, says the building helps connect Greensburg Salem students to history.

“We wanted the kids to realize what their great-great-grandparents experienced when they went to school, the differences and some of the similarities, also,” Mansfield said. “We wanted it to be a special place, where kids could go back in history and get a hands-on approach to what things used to be.”

The schoolhouse, inspired by the 1848 Concord School and Carriage House in the Loyalhanna Township area, is approximately 40 by 50 feet, and is intended to represent the period from 1870 to 1890.

Veronica Ent, whose mother, Eleanor Ent, collaborated with the school on creating the new schoolhouse, said restoring the Concord School House was her mother’s “life’s work.”

“She bought the farm, and the schoolhouse on it was in disrepair. She took it upon herself to restore it,” Ent said. “When she got the honor to be part of the reconstruction of this replica, she was just thrilled (about) that.”

Grants and donations originally financed the $144,000 Hutchinson schoolhouse project, Mansfield said, and much of the work to build it was volunteered.

An Eagle Scout project finished some of the bookcases, and portraits of U.S. presidents lining the walls are on loan from the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. At least one of the student benches was carved by Mansfield himself. Plaques on the benches originally were sold to donors for $100 each.

“Various people have donated things,” Mansfield said. “I used to collect old textbooks from prior to 1900, and we probably have about 300 of that on location now. They fill two big bookcases. We got these bookcases from a pharmacy that was going out of business, and they have glass on the front. They’re all sealed behind the glass.”

From the still-working school bell on the roof to the pump organ behind the teacher’s desk, the space is immersive. One artifact, a clock that hangs over the teacher’s platform, had a unique function in its day, Mansfield said. Called the “school regulator,” the clock ran on an eight-day schedule, and it would have been one student’s responsibility to wind it.

“No one’s been winding it — we have it elevated above the chalkboards,” he said, noting that they date to the former West Pittsburgh Street Elementary School.

“These are the chalkboards I wrote on for about 10 years, and a lot of people wrote on them.”

During Mansfield’s time as superintendent, classes would sometimes spend a whole week learning in the schoolhouse. Students and teachers still use the building today, though safety between buildings and weather are sometimes a limiting factor, according to the school’s Associate Principal Anthony Barbato.

“We’re always looking for ways to use this classroom and help the students to enjoy the atmosphere and learn from their surroundings,” Barbato said. “We’ll have it if a speaker comes in, and we do have some evening groups that will sometimes come in and utilize it. We do our classroom photos in here because it is such a unique atmosphere. Same with PTA meetings. We try to bring the students in here, as well as the community in here, so they understand what this is.”

The district still comes up with new ideas about how to use the site for events. For Mansfield, one of his most cherished memories of the schoolhouse is how it was used for Christmas caroling around 2004.

“We didn’t realize about 80 kids would show up with their parents. We went out and the snow started to fall,” he said. “We went back to the one-room schoolhouse and the parents had set up hot chocolate and pizza. The kids had their tassel caps on, and they started singing Christmas carols. A lady got on the organ and tried to accompany us as best she could. That was one of the best experiences I’ve had with the one-room schoolhouse.”