Schoolhouse Dedicated at Woodward Museum

Adrian Woodhall spoke to supporters of the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society December 16 for the one-room schoolhouse dedication. Photo by Carol Kinney

By Ruth Lepper

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob officiated at the dedication of a replica one-room schoolhouse on Dec. 16 on the grounds of the Guy B. Woodward Museum.

The 192-square-foot schoolhouse, formerly a barn used to house the museum’s motor vehicles, was modeled after the Spencer Valley School in Wynola, near Julian, that was built more than 125 years ago.

Museum director Ken Woodward and Adrian Woodhall, who did the majority of the work on the schoolhouse, paid a visit to Spencer Valley School earlier this year to get ideas for making the replica building.

Woodhall completed the schoolhouse in about two months. He also used old photographs of schools in the Ramona area to come up with the design. Several of those photographs are now hanging on the walls in the replica.

Woodhall was able to finagle donations of used lumber and other building supplies from local merchants. Albertsons provided the trim for the windows and doors when the grocery store was in a remodeling project. The narrow pieces of wood were going to be tossed out.

Another business had lumber to spare that Woodhall brought to the museum, cut into shorter pieces and built the floor with the “pre-used boards.”

The “1888” sign over the entry to the schoolhouse was used many years ago at one of Ramona’s early schools. The sign signified the year it was built.

The school bell in the bell tower is another replica. It was donated by Woodhall’s wife, Otila Woodhall, sister of the late Guy B. Woodward, for whom the museum is named.

“Otila bought the bell and I built the schoolhouse to fit it,” Adrian Woodhall said. The paint, inside and out, is described by Woodhall as “banana yellow and apple green.”

Furnishings for the interior also are authentic — three school desks lined up in front of the teacher’s desk, which is from the old Montecito School in Ramona.

The teacher’s desk is crowded with a handbell for call the students to class, inkwells, slate boards and books dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Display cases will be added for the 500 books on women in history recently donated to the museum by a woman in San Diego.

A pot-bellied stove donated by the Woodhalls stands in a corner by the door. An old cap and jacket are hanging from clothes hooks in the other corner. Two homemade baseball bats and a well-used mitt are leaning against the wall, ready for recess.

The schoolhouse is open to the public during the museum’s regular hours, from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The museum is located at 645 Main St., Ramona. Donation to tour the museum is $3 for adults and 50 cents for children, while members of Ramona Pioneer Historical Society are offered free admission. For more information, call the museum office at (760) 789-7644.

San Diego County District Supervisor, Dianne Jacob cuts the ribbon to dedicate the one-room schoolhouse. Left to right: Supervisor Dianne Jacob; Adrian Woodhall; Judy Nachazel, President of the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society and Ken Woodward, Director of the Guy B. Woodward Museum.