The Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse in the USA

*Originally published as a promotional piece on June 16, 2021. Some information may be missing.

Dating back to the early 18th century the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse is located at the north end of St. George Street in St. Augustine, not far from the City Gate. None of the wooden structures built in the city before 1702 still stand, because the British burned Spanish St. Augustine to the ground that year. As a result, the earliest property records for the schoolhouse date to 1740.

The original structure consisted of a one room, single story building with a detached kitchen, made of wood siding with a coquina chimney, where food was prepared for the family. Kitchens were commonly separate structures in those times, not only to keep the house cool during the hot summer months, but also to prevent any kitchen fires from spreading to the residential areas of the home.

The exterior of the house was made of bald cypress and red cedar bound together by wood pins and iron spikes, all made by hand.

In addition to the separate kitchen, there was a privy with a privacy wall and a well, all with easy access though the back door of the house. 

The garden area behind the hoe was used to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices. Water for cooking and drinking was drawn from the old well in this backyard garden space.

In 1768, the Minorcans, poor islanders from the Meditteranean, came to Florida as indentured servants on a plantation in New Smyrna. After 9 years enduring much mistreatment on the plantation, the survivors found refuge 70 miles north in St. Augustine during the British occupation of the city. They were allowed to settle on the north end of St. George Street just inside the City Gate, remaining there when the Spanish took the city again and when Florida joined the United States in 1821.

Jesse Fish, a land broker who represented the property interests of the fleeing Spanish officers and residents after the British took possession of Florida, sold the home to Juan Genopoly, a Minorcan refugee, on October 1, 1780.

Genopoly got married and established a homestead there, maintained by the Genopoly family for over a century.  He added a second story to the home for use as family living quarters, as well as an additional smaller room at the back of the first floor to serve as a family sitting room.

The main room of the house was transformed into a coed school in 1788, where Genopoly became its first teacher. He recognized the importance of learning English, and invited the children of the Minorcan Quarter to the school to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Two of the four children born in St. Augustine to Juan Genopoly and his wife also taught at the old school. The last class at the school was in attendance in 1864.

Juan Genopoly was rather progressive for the times in which he lived, as the school was the first coed school in the United States, allowing attendance by boys and girls alike.

Visitors today can examine copies of old textbooks and school supplies from the 18th century, and tour the kitchen and gardens, where a bountiful pecan tree has been growing for an estimated 250 years.

From the front exterior on St. George Street, you'll see a large chain wrapped around the house attached to an enormous anchor. It was added in 1937 to hold the house in place in case of hurricane force winds and weather.

Recent maintenance has been done to replace the roof, among other fixes, but great care is always taken to maintain the authenticity of the schoolhouse.

As with nearly every one of the old structures in a city with so much history, there have been many reports of paranormal occurrences on the property. The old well in the garden has been the central figure of many strange happenings. Research through archival records have revealed stories of deaths and strange events on the property.

Ghost Tours of St. Augustine offers professionally guided paranormal investigations of the schoolhouse. We haven't gone on this tour yet ourselves, but every ghost tour we've enjoyed has included a stop by the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse to detail some of its interesting history.

 

Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse

14 St. George Street

St. Augustine, FL  32084

904-824-0192

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