I Spy

I spy, with my little eye, a white brick building up on a hill, in Segwun.

The old South Ward School sits high above the road at 13322 Grand River Dr SE, representing the community of Segwun.

The South Ward School building was built in 1876. Before the school was built, school was held in the Old Advent Church, which was described as being on the west side of Segwun avenue, south of the Grand River.

The purpose of the building of the South, East, and West ward schools was that no student would have to cross the Flat or Grand Rivers when flooded or if the bridges washed out.

The village of Segwun was growing, and by 1884 there were 47 students enrolled in the school. Located south of the Grand River, the village businesses included; the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad depot, an extensive apple dryer, cider and vinegar factory, a cooper shop, an ax helve factory, 2 ox bow factories, 1 scythe snath and turning factory, a carpet factory, an extensive saw mill, a stave and heading factory, a store, a church, a brick school house, two hotels, three warehouses, a brick yard, Kopf’s furniture factory, sand to build up Segwun and Lowell and Mr. Faulkner’s bank. The population was about 300. This, however, appears to have been the largest period of growth and population.

The largest business in the community was the Kopf Factory. In 1877 John Kopf donated a large bell to the new schoolhouse.

Over the years the newspapers noted two times that illness interfered with school. In 1890, an unidentified epidemic caused the school to close temporarily. The teacher, Ruby Blanding, was seriously sick. In 1930 measles again closed the South Ward School. Of the 22 students in the school, 14 were out with measles. Amazingly, there were no measles in the village of Lowell at the time.

The schoolhouse was a gathering point for the community. It was used for class reunions, Sunday schools, community parties, and was the meeting place of the Segwun Community Club. The Segwun Community Club helped keep the identity of the community. They held regular meetings including holiday parties which drew in large numbers of the area residents. Even after the building stopped being used as a school in 1936, the Community Club continued meeting in the building.
   
The closure of the ward schools was because modern bridges and transportation had made it possible for all of the students in the district to enjoy the same facilities.

In 1946 the McBride District School was using the building after fire destroyed the McBride schoolhouse. When the Segwun Community Club had a special meeting at the end of World War II, they invited the McBride district to the meeting. All veterans of World War I and II were honored along with a solemn moment of silence for those who didn’t come home.

In an election held in July of 1952, a proposal authorizing the board of education to dispose of the south ward school property passed 98 to 2. The building would be sold at auction. From that sale on, the old South Ward Schoolhouse continues to live on, up on that hill, as a private residence.

Images:

​The South Ward School