Widespread One-Room School names in York County

Interior and Exterior photos of Miller’s One-Room Schoolhouse in Springettsbury Township

While working on a family history for a neighbor in Arizona, Sally Snyder found the following passage in an old, although relevant, connecting family history. “He walked two-miles to Miller’s One-Room Schoolhouse, from the family farm in southern York County, Penna.”

My location and source index to York County’s One-Room Schoolhouses popped up in Sally’s internet search; in which she discovered there were eight Miller’s One-Room Schoolhouses in York County. She further determined all eight were pretty much in the southern half of York County. Through additional clues, I was able to point Sally to her correct Miller’s in Codorus Township, which enabled her to better pinpoint the general area of the farm.

I knew, what Sally Snyder started, would make an interesting post; the “Widespread One-Room School names in York County.”

I wondered if any one-room school name had more widespread use than Miller’s. Using my index, I confirmed Miller’s is the leading name for one-room schoolhouses in York County; occurring in eight townships. The northern most Miller’s is in Springettsbury Township and the remainders are considerably further south. The interior and exterior photos are of Miller’s in Springettsbury Township. The York County History Center is the source for these older school photos.

There are eight one-room school names that tie for second place, with 4 locations each: Bear’s, Fairview, Hoke’s, Mt. Airy, Mt. Pleasant, Myer’s, Pleasant Grove and Pleasant Hill. Overall, it appears having ‘Pleasant’ in a location and thus a school name was very popular. There are ten one-room school names that tie for third place, with 3 locations each: Brenneman’s, Cedar Grove, Diehl’s, Glatfelter’s, Jefferson, Locust Grove, Nace’s, Neiman’s, Snyder’s and Strayer’s.

Townships with a Miller’s One-Room Schoolhouse

Only one of the eight Miller’s One-Room Schoolhouses was not in use when school consolidation occurred in the 1950s. The Miller’s in Chanceford Township was last used as a schoolhouse during the 1929-1930 school year. The remaining seven townships with Miller’s schoolhouses were: Codorus, Manheim, North Hopewell, Paradise, Penn, Springettsbury and Windsor.

The following 1915 Map of York County Roads was published by the State Highway Department. This map colorfully distinguishes between the townships. I’ve zoomed into the southwestern segment of the county and marked the locations of the eight Miller’s One-Room Schoolhouses.