Renewal: Tom and Kim Reed bought the long-abandoned ("as is" condition) Metz school on Botkins Road near Gross Woods in 1991. "We looked for an old farmhouse to remodel but couldn’t find one. Since we are both in the education field, this one-room schoolhouse seemed a natural alternative choice," Tom said. "But, we had a hard time getting a construction loan. The bankers were afraid that the structure would be too far gone. But, it’s just as square as the day it was built." The Metz school is one of the few remaining one-roomers to escape having a large section cut out of a wall to accommodate farm machinery, Tom noted. They preserved the schoolhouse, making it into a "great room" for living room, kitchen, and dining room. A second story loft will serve as a master bedroom. Wooden floors and wainscoting are original and refinished. Early education memorabilia on the walls and period furniture complete the decor. A new section to the house and a detached two-car garage complement the schoolhouse’s architecture. The Reeds gave high praise to area contractor Dale Egbert and Troy architect Candy Goodall. The original inscription at the apex of the south-facing gable end reads "Jackson Twp. Dist. No. 1, 1893, G.W. Line, Builder."

There are about 70 left, more than you might expect, of those crumbling, forlorn, and deserted reminders of Shelby County’s early educational system. The one-room schoolhouse. "There were originally 124 of them in Shelby County," according to Betty Bevans who, with Barbara Adams, wrote the authoritative two-volume series, Shelby County, Ohio, One-Room Schools, under the auspices of the Shelby County Genealogical Society. "The earliest schools were log buildings, replaced in the mid-1800’s by frame structures which in turn were replaced by brick schools later in the century," Bevans said. "Many of them have been used for farm storage…for hay, grain, and equipment." But, 36 of the remaining 70 one-roomers have been converted to residences, saving them from neglect.

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