Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1963 |
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| Location | Mount Hanley, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia Canada |
| Type | community schoolhouse museum |
The Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum is a special place in Mount Hanley. It's a museum inside an old one-room school building. This schoolhouse is in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The museum teaches visitors about the history of Mount Hanley and nearby towns. It also shows what school life was like long ago in a rural area. A very famous person, Joshua Slocum, went to this school in the 1850s. He later became the first person to sail alone around the world!
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School Life in the Past (1850-1963)
The school building was built in 1850. It replaced an even older school made of logs. This new school was officially called "The Mount Hanley School Section No. 10."
Many new schools were built in Nova Scotia during the 1850s. This was thanks to William Dawson, who was the province's first Superintendent of Schools.
Joshua Slocum was one of the first students here. He was born on a farm close to the school. Joshua learned to read and write at this school until he was eight years old. His family then moved away in 1854.
Another important student was Clara Belle Marshall. In 1884, she became the first woman to graduate from Acadia University. Ora Blossom Elliott, another Mount Hanley student, also graduated from Acadia University in 1906. She wrote a valuable history of early Mount Hanley in 1909.
In the 1930s, a small community library was started inside the school. The school taught all grades until 1949. After that, students who finished Grade Six went to the new Middleton Regional High School. The Mount Hanley School closed in 1963. This happened because smaller rural schools were combined into bigger schools in towns. From then on, children from Mount Hanley took a bus to a new elementary school in Lawrencetown.
Joshua Slocum: A Famous Sailor
Joshua Slocum was born in Mount Hanley on February 20, 1844. He went to this school until he was eight years old. Then, his family moved to Brier Island.
Joshua started with a simple life but became an amazing sailor. He was the first person to sail alone all the way around the world! His life shows us courage, determination, and honesty. He proved that you can achieve your dreams by facing challenges. Joshua himself said, "To succeed in anything at all, one should go understandingly about his work and be prepared for every emergency."
To celebrate 100 years since his famous voyage in 1895, the Joshua Slocum Centennial Society of Nova Scotia placed a special memorial at the Schoolhouse Museum.
From Private to Community Museum
The Barteaux Family Museum (1963-2006)
When the school closed in 1963, Alton and Laurette Barteaux bought the building. They lived right next door. They decided to create a private museum called the Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum.
The school's original items were never thrown away. This meant the Barteaux family could save all the old books, desks, maps, and other school supplies. They even had school records going back to 1894! They also added items from other old schoolhouses and families in the Mount Hanley area.
The museum was open by appointment. Over the years, it was featured in several books about Joshua Slocum. In 1995, the school became a provincial heritage property. This meant it was recognized as a very important and well-preserved old schoolhouse. It was also special because of its connection to Joshua Slocum and Clara Belle Marshall.
A Community Museum Today (2006-Present)
On June 1, 2005, a group called the Mount Hanley and District Schoolhouse Museum Society was formed. Their goal was to keep the building safe and open to the public. Alton and Laurette Barteaux generously gave the school to this society in 2006.
Today, the museum is open to the public during the summer months. Volunteers help run the museum. There are plans to make the museum displays even better and to organize all the items in the school's collection.
Why This School is Special
The Mount Hanley school is one of the oldest and best-preserved examples of a special school design. This design was created by William Dawson. He was a pioneer in education for the province. Later, he became a famous geologist and president of McGill University.
Dawson studied school design carefully. He was inspired by an American educator named Henry Barnard and his 1842 book "School Architecture." In 1850, Dawson published his own pamphlet called "School Architecture; abridged from Barnard's School Architecture."
The Mount Hanley school perfectly shows Dawson's ideas. It's a great example of a design that was later used for many other schools in the Maritime provinces. The outside of the school looks almost the same as it did in 1850. The only big change was a small woodshed added in 1892. You can even still see the carved initials of many generations of students on the wooden shingles!
Inside, some changes happened over time. New blackboards were put in, and cast iron desks were added. However, three of the original handmade wooden desks are still there. These are known as "Dawson Desks" because they were made exactly to Dawson's plans. One of the original slate blackboards has also survived.
Where to Find the Museum
The schoolhouse is still in its original spot. It's on the east side of the Mount Hanley Road. It faces Brown Road, about nine kilometers northwest of the town of Middleton.
Today, it's a quiet country spot on the North Mountain. But in 1850, it was a busy and important area. A store and two mills were close to the school, near a Mill Pond. Local stories say that Joshua Slocum had his first "sea voyage" paddling a washtub in this pond!
More Information
The museum is connected with the CMA, the CHIN, and the Virtual Museum of Canada.
You can find more information about the museum online: https://web.archive.org/web/20120325033941/http://www.mounthanleyschoolhousemuseum.ca/
