Medina County High Schools - Mecoan Yearbook (Medina, OH)

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Litchfield Marian McQuate Dennison James Ruegsfoger Baldwin- Wallace A. R. Betz, Supt. Baldwin- Wallace Thelma Overholt Mount Union

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History of LeRoy High School True to the traditions of the hardy New England pioneers who settled the Western Reserve, the people of Westfield have always looked well to the education of their children. The first school in the township was built at Friendsville in the spring of 1818. The town of LeRoy was founded in 1826 and here the first school house was a log structure. A frame building was built in 1832 and did service for exactly forty years. In 1872 a new building, quite elaborate for those days, was erected and served its purpose well for fifty years. These early schools at the township center were abandoned by the small children who lived near and furnished more advanced training for the youth of the entire township. To care for the small children of the outlying districts there were the one-room schools, the “little red school houses” of by-gone days. Westfield was one of the first townships in Medina county to adopt centralization and the last of the one-room schools disappeared nearly a quarter of a century ago. In 1917 an auditorium wing was completed and in the fall of 1922 the people approved a bond issue for the building of a modern school plant adjoining it. The old frame building, which had stood for exactly a half century, was razed and the present structure took its place. Westfield is now able to offer its young people the most that is de- sirable in secondary education. A first grade high school is maintained, with membership in the North Central Association, and its graduates are prepared for college entrance. Equal emphasis is placed upon the prac- tical side of school work, in keeping with present day demands. Thorough courses in agriculture, commercial studies, manual and domestic arts may be elected in place of the more formal studies of the old time curriculum. Thus Westfield and LeRoy have moved on with with times, believing that educational progress must keep pace with that of other fields. To the progressive citizens of the community belong the honor and credit for this splendid achievement. Members of the LeRoy Village Board of Education W. E. Haines, President F. H. Hawley I. E. Simmons, Vice President B. G. Daniels, Clerk Fred Eastman

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History of Litchfield School Litchfield Township, although it has one of the smallest attendances, boasts of one of the oldest histories in Medina County. It was founded in 1790 when the Western Reserve was merely a wilderness, by a Yankee family from Connecticut. At that time, the northern part of Ohio was considered a part of the Connecticut grant. Since its founding, the prin- cipal occupation of the township has been agriculture. For about a century the only schools in the township were rural one- room schools. But with the coming of good roads and other public im- provements, the schools were centralized in 1894. In fact, Litchfield was one of the first townships in the state to centralize its schools. Another unique honor that came to the township at that time concerned chiefly the women. The Litchfield women were the first in the state to take ad- vantage of the law permitting equal suffrage at school elections. It was at this time that the schools were first centralized in Litchfield Township. In 1901, the schools moved into a new frame building, which was located on South Street. At the time, this was considered one of the best build- ings in the county. In the new building was also established a High School of the second grade. For sixteen years this type of high school served the needs of the community admirably. In 1917, the State Department of Education granted the township a charter for a first grade high school. This is the same charter that is now in vogue. The attendance of the school has been steadily increasing so that in 1924 the Board of Education was obliged to secure larger quar- ters for the high school. The result was the beautiful, up-to-date, fire- proof building made of red brick and erected at an approximate cost of $28,000. The building is steam-heated, electrically-lighted and has run- ning water on both floors. The main floor has three large rooms connected by sound-proof, sliding doors, so that the whole main floor may be con- verted into one spacious auditorium for all-school purposes. Litchfield is justly proud of its new building, for which it is indebted to its Board of Education who have worked so whole-heartedly and un- selfishly in the interest of the school and community. Members of the Litchfield Township Board of Education John Radie, President B. R. Turner Willis Leach Adam Rising S. J. Wilson, Clerk