Making the list – Dick Schoolhouse eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
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ROARING SPRING – Almost 200 years after being built, Dick Schoolhouse is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation office.
According to retired Central High School history teacher Bud Chonko, the facility meets criterion A for education and criterion C for conservation.
After meeting the criteria, schoolhouse officials are required to submit documentation, photographs and any historical information about the building for the National Register’s nomination process.
Between 1830-32, the Dick family and community members helped build the one-room schoolhouse to provide education for the Morrisons Cove area.
“In the winter, they hauled those stones in (the schoolhouse) and wrestled them into place,” Chonko said.
The schoolhouse then became registered in the Pennsylvania public school system in 1834 and continued to be used as a classroom until 1868. Until 1920, the building was used as a church, home and slaughterhouse.
Blair County Historical Society Chairman Michael Farrow said the society preserved the building for 100 years until 2024 when they passed ownership to the Dick family, who got the deed for the schoolhouse.
“In order to preserve it, we felt like (transferring ownership) was the best idea,” Farrow said.
The schoolhouse is currently run by the Dick family, who not only wants to preserve the building but also make it an accessible and educational destination in Blair County.
Dick Schoolhouse partnered with Yarden Bridge, a nonprofit that helps connect nonprofits and churches with social media and technology, said Jordan Rhoat, founder and director of Yarden Bridge.
Rhoat runs the Dick Schoolhouse website and Facebook page, which he said helped the schoolhouse “reach out to the community.”
Through social media, many people have already sent in pictures of the schoolhouse, and some members of the older generation have reached out with their Dick Schoolhouse stories as well.
Yarden Bridge also designed the schoolhouse’s new logo to give it a “refreshing new start,” Rhoat said, adding that the schoolhouse “seems like it sat forgotten for so long, and people may not see the potential there.”
Being on the National Register for Historical Places will help preserve the schoolhouse, Rhoat said, since the facility will be able to access a “larger pool of grants.”
Rhoat mentioned building a parking lot and facilities nearby the schoolhouse, saying “the vision will grow and expand as we are exploring the terrain.”
Restoring the building to its original integrity is what Chonko said is the next step for the schoolhouse. He said the building has been in good shape despite recent rainfall, but the family wants to restore the windows and door.
“It’s standing here structurally sound, it just needs to be maintained,” Chonko said.
In the future, the Dick family wants to hold field trips, historical showings and community events at the schoolhouse. Chonko noted that the Spring Cove School District could possibly hold a meeting at the building, depending on the weather.
Focusing on the here and now, the Dick family and friends are committed to breathing new life into the old schoolhouse, especially since it is a unique, historical building in Blair County.
“To see a landmark like that that has historical value, there aren’t too many of them around,” Chonko said.
Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.