LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum, located at 16435 Morgan Valley Road in Lower Lake was built in 1877.
It presents a stately demeanor standing on a hill at the end of Lower Lake’s main street.
Ralph or Leslie P. Nichols – depending on which document is read – was the architect and builder.
Nichols started work on the building in 1876 when the citizens of Lower Lake, who numbered 1,000, gained approval from the Board of Supervisors to form a school district.
Unfortunately Nichols drowned in Clear Lake when he was 37 years old, just after the building was constructed, within days of the first school session.
To honor him, the school was named Nichols School House.
The schoolhouse was built of brick, which was manufactured locally by the Nicolai Quarry, located one-half mile east of Lower Lake. The bricks were fired in a local kiln operated by Eli Johnson.
The building was designed with a Mansard, or Second Empire-style roof. This architectural style was popular in the period of 1855 to 1885.
Some people today think the Mansard style is a spooky style of architecture. Alfred Hitchcock used a house with the distinctive Mansard style in his movie, “Psycho.”
The Mansard style was considered majestic in the 19th century and originated in the Renaissance. The style derives its name from French architect Francois Mansart (1598-1666).
Mansart, who attended the Beaux Arts School of Architecture, Paris, France, brought about a resurgence of the style. This style was used in the Louvre Museum, and again when Paris was under reconstruction by Napoleon III in the 1850s.
Mansard-style roofs are tall, and narrow in style with two slopes on the four sides. They are efficient in design, as they allow for usable space in the attic.
The schoolhouse building suffered a fire in January of 1877, just after construction was completed.
According to information located by Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum’s Jane Weaver, in “The Lake Democrat” newspaper, “On Wednesday morning last occurred in Lower Lake one of the most cruel disasters it has ever fallen to the lot of a Christian community to bear. At that hour the new schoolhouse, just roofed in, was discovered to be on fire, and now, nothing but its blackened brick walls are left standing.
“The people of Lower Lake have worked hard and stinted themselves in many ways that this edifice should rear itself over the heads of their children, and to have their long cherished purpose defeated and their work laid in ashes by a drunken loafer is enough to rouse them to commit some extravagance against the perpetrator should he be discovered.
“A man named Goforth, we are informed, sold on Tuesday his shirt for 4-bits and on that same evening purchased fifty cents worth of whiskey at Green’s Saloon. In a drunken condition he asked for a night’s lodging at a house near the new schoolhouse. During the night some one was heard in the building talking and shouting.
“After the fire, Goforth made his appearance in town and was immediately arrested. A lot of carpenter tools and unused lumber under the building were destroyed, together with the recently erected woodwork, the walls along remaining, it is hoped, uninjured. The loss has not yet been fully estimated, but it will reach over $1500.”
After the building was rebuilt, classes were held in its three large rooms – three grades in each room.
Back in “the good old days” there was no electricity, indoor plumbing or central heat. The heat for each room was supplied by woodstove.
Since there was no indoor plumbing, the teacher needed to fill water jugs for drinking each day, and place them with a cup near the schoolroom doors.
There was a playground for the all-important recess time where the parking lot is today.
The 1906 earthquake damaged the schoolhouse bell tower. Repairs came about through schoolhouse bonds.
School was taught at the Lower Lake Schoolhouse until 1935. Then, the Masonic Lodge purchased the building the same year. It was leased by a church, and over the years, gradually fell into disrepair.
After years of hard work and commitment, the schoolhouse was formally dedicated as the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum on Oct. 21, 1993.
Today you can walk through time in the lovely old building and view wonderful displays of Lake County history.
Unique and beautiful Pomo Indian baskets and fine examples of their hunting tools are in evidence. There are many interesting farming tools, fabulous rock collections, items from the old dry goods stores, antique clothing, uniforms, and hundreds of fascinating artifacts from times-gone-by.
Curator Linda Lake, who was working at the museum when I stopped by, had many remarkable stories to tell about each of the interesting items.
One room is dedicated to the schoolhouse motif, and is outfitted with antique books, maps and desks – complete with inkwells that Johnny no doubt used to dip Suzy’s pigtails into when the teacher wasn’t looking!
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.