Avon Historic Site Open for Tourist Season in June

AVON, CT — The Avon Historical Society announces that the Pine Grove School House, 3 Harris Street (West Avon Road/Route 167), will open for the summer tourist season on Sunday, June 3, and be open every Sunday through September from 2-4 p.m. Volunteers are needed to be greeters for those who visit on Sunday afternoons. Training is available for anyone interested.

The Pine Grove Schoolhouse, built in 1865 as Schoolhouse No. 7 and still standing in its original location, is owned by the Town of Avon. It was in use as a school until 1949 when it became a branch of the town library, nursery school and meeting place for the Boy Scouts. The Avon Historical Society restored the building in 1976 and is interpreted as a schoolhouse of 1900 with bolted desks, hand slates, textbooks, and other educational memorabilia of the time.

New this year will be a scavenger hunt for young visitors highlighting many of the historic items in the school house. Also new will be a display of several of the teaching aids used by teacher Anna Coleman in 1932. These were donated by her family members as a way of showing current students the simple, yet revealing way a teacher taught about the environment, seasons, historic events, etc.

Over the past decade much work has been completed, thanks to local company donations, to restore this wonderful historic treasure. For example, lead paint was remediated from the exterior, the almost 100-year old outhouse was restored and placed near its original location, and locally quarried stone steps were added to the side door. Thanks to a grant from CT Trust for Historic Preservation and very generous individual donors, 112 panes of glass in the windows of the schoolhouse, most of them original, were restored.

To volunteer to be a greeter at the School House this summer, or to make an appointment to see the School House at other times, please leave your name and number at 860-678-7621.

For those interested in local history and genealogy, they are encouraged to visit the Marian Hunter History Room at the Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, by making an appointment at 860-673-9712.

Story and photo courtesy of Avon Historical Society

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