›› Eramosa S.S. #8

The residents of S.S. #8 district first attended a frame school located east of Rockwood on lot 4, con. 5, west of the railroad track. This school, erected in 1842, was known as Union School Section No. 4. Among the teachers of that school was William Wetherald, who later founded the Academy.

The school was thought to be 24 feet long, with two windows on each side, cottage-style roof and a stone foundation. A strong batten door and a wood stove combined to keep the students warm.1

In 1871, owing to the division of the township into new sections, a half-acre of land was purchased on lot 6, con. 6 from William Maude and in 1873 the brick school with arched windows was completed farther east on what is now County Road 50.2 The old Union #4 became a private home. In 1874 a house was built beside S.S. #8 as residence for the teacher.

In 1881 a school barn was erected in the south corner of the school grounds for the teachers’ use.

School garden work was introduced on the grounds in 1929. Each pupil was allotted a small plot in which vegetables and flowers were planted and cultivated.

In February 1937 the school glowed with six new electric light fixtures. The community often held dances in the school.

Sytske Drijber. By God’s Grace We Grow: An Historical Sketch of Rockwood United Church, 1868-1968. Rockwood: Rockwood United Church, 1968. Pg. 2.

It is also reported that it was an acre of land that was purchased from William Maud, or Maude, to build S.S.#8 in 1863. Tweedsmuir Books, Rock A Long Women’s Institute. Wellington County Museum & Archive. Page 27.

Photo courtesy of the Guelph-Eramosa Township Archives. For more information see Eramosa Anecdotes, by Deborah Quaile (Ayton: Wordbird Press, 2007).