Beginning in 1802, the first school classes in Youngstown and Warren were held in one-room log buildings.  Parents paid for their children to attend these schools, and also brought wood to burn during the winter term.  Desks were split logs either pegged into the wall or standing on 4 wooden legs.

In 1849, the Ohio legislature established the Union School System (tax-supported public schools) for towns of more than 200 residents.  That summer, Warren organized 6 primary and secondary schools plus a high school.  High school teachers earned $4 a week; the other teachers got $3.50. 

William Rayen left money to build a school in Youngstown that would admit all students who wanted to attend.  In 1866, P. Ross Berry, a free black brick mason and contractor, was hired to build the Rayen School, then one of only about 75 free public high schools in the United States.  Berry’s 3 younger children were graduated from the Rayen School.

How well would you learn in a one-room school?  Are teachers well-paid today?  What do you know about the history of your school?  Visit the Arms Family Museum or www.mahoninghistory.org to learn more about education in the Mahoning Valley over the last two hundred years. 

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