|
Fishing Creek Schoolhouse
|
|
|
|
|
| Location: | 2102 Bayshore Road, Villas, Lower Township, New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Area: | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built: | 1888 |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 80002478[1] |
| NJRHP #: | 1000[2] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | March 6, 1980 |
| Designated NJRHP: | October 9, 1979 |
Fishing Creek Schoolhouse, is located in the Villas section of Lower Township, New Jersey. The schoolhouse was built in 1888 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 6, 1980.
Nearly a century after the New Jersey Legislature formed Upper, Middle and Lower Townships, the Fishing Creek School was constructed in 1888 on land that was donated from the Matthews family farm. Many of those who aided in the construction of the one-room schoolhouse were veterans of the Civil War. The Fishing Creek School served as the only school in the area until 1921 when some students were sent to the Cold Spring Academy.
In the 1920s, there were as many as eight one-room schoolhouses in the lower Cape May region. With the advent of motorized school buses, the one-room schoolhouses became obsolete, and schools were "consolidated" into buildings with multiple classrooms.
In 1926, the Fishing Creek School was sold at public auction and subsequently purchased by the Leckey family as a summer home.
The School was placed on the National and State Historic Registers in 1980, and the Leckey family sought to ensure that the school be spared demolition.
In 1998, members of the community began efforts to save the Fishing Creek School, and in 2002, the school was purchased by the State Green Acres Program, and subsequently leased to Lower Township for 20 years.
Recently, Mayor Mike Beck organized a non-profit organization, The Friends of the Fishing Creek School, to lead the effort to restore and maintain the site for the benefit of the community.
The Fishing Creek School is the only remaining one-room schoolhouse in Lower Township, NJ.
|
||||||||||||||||||||