Darke County Educational History, Inc., 1314 Northview Drive, Greenville, OH (2026)

01/19/2026

I wish I could say that we are "wallowing" in a pile of grant money and a fat bank account, but we are not in that financial shape at all! Yes, we just received a $300 grant from the Ketrow Foundation for the purchase this Spring of enough fast drying cement to smooth out half of our walls. That was are only successful grant request in 2025! It is almost like the other grantors thought it would be a waste of money to "resurrect" an old schoolhouse. After all, when we finally received the deed from the attorney's office last January, 3 sides of the schoolhouse was invisible from the road due to the trees and bushes. The 4th side of the schoolhouse was covered with vines! Hopefully, you have driven by our schoolhouse and have seen our progress. By the end of this year it will be a "gem in the countryside"!

Our big problem now is restoring the floor which is beyond a "volunteer project". Basically, we need financial help. We need funding to complete this project. We need donations from individuals and businesses to partially cover our financial needs.

The good news is that NOW, beginning in the 2026 Tax Year, a reinstated IRS deduction allows "non-itemizers" to deduct cash donations to charitable non-profit, 501c(3) organizations like us, totaling up to $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. So, please think of including us on your donation list.

There are many ways of helping us finance this project:

1. Mail a check payable to Darke County Educational History, Inc. at our address at 1314 Northview Drive, Greenville, Ohio 45331.
2. Donating via PayPal link as shown on our FaceBook Group Page using your credit card or debit card.
3. Drop off a check payable to us at our bank, Greenville Federal which is located at 690 Wagner Ave., Greenville, Ohio 45331. It is located at the corner of Wagner Ave. and Russ Road. The Bank staff knows our account number and will then deposit it to our account accordingly.
4. If you are a Kroger Store customer then please consider enrolling in the Kroger Community Rewards Program at www.krogercommunityrewards.com. See attached information about this program. It is a nice way to have Krogers “contribute” to our project. I have checked my personal account and it seems that usually about $5 of my family’s quarterly purchases is designated to our project via this Rewards Program!
Bob Sharp, Secretary-Treasurer
Darke County Educational History, Inc.

01/17/2026

This week we submitted a Preliminary Questionnaire to the State Historic Preservation Office for requesting our schoolhouse be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If listed our chances of receiving grants funds will be enhanced. Last week we were awarded a $300 grant request by the Ketrow Foundation for materials to apply to the walls.
Attached is a file of photos we submitted with the Preliminary Questionnaire.

01/07/2026

Just learned that Steve Baker of WHIO Channel 7 NEWS passed away last week. Attached is a news video of Steve covering our initial restoration of our schoolhouse in November'2011. Yes, that was 13 years before it was finally donated to us! At that time we introduced ourselves to the owners and spoke to them about the necessity of preserving the building. To show them our resolve, we boarded up the open windows and cleared the bushes around 3 sides of the building. Due to that action and concern, the property was deeded to us in December'2024.

11/10/2025

We at Darke County Educational History, Inc. want to thank you for your kind responses and comments on our November 4 post. They really boosted our morale.

We would like to share more information about us and what we hope to accomplish, such as (1) an article we wrote in the 2025 Spring Issue of the GHS Alumni Newsletter, and (2) information about restored schools in Clark and Greene Counties which we hope to replicate.

By Jim Sommer and Bob Sharp, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Darke County Educational, Inc.

11/04/2025

An update on our one room, country schoolhouse restoration project.

Our first project was clearing the trees from the left side of the building. The one tree abutting the back of the building was a monster, and was a big challenge to cut down. That tree had several branches extending over the roof. We cut down the many other smaller trees leaving 2 foot high tree stumps. Later this month these stumps will serve as markers for the bulldozer which will not only remove the stumps but also their tree roots. That way, next year we will have a yard with grass instead of young trees or saplings growing up.

With the roof cleared of branches and no small trees abutting the building, the roofers were then able to place their ladders around the building wherever needed. Our roofer, GMT Roofing, then sealed the roof safeguarding us from further interior water damage. They did a good job. They then not only installed the rain gutters and downspouts, but donated them to us!

Due to prior vandalism there were no complete windows, we had only a few upper and lower parts of the windows. However, we were very fortunate for 2 things which were (1) Lew Crowell, and (2) the Wakefield School owner donating the remaining windows of that building before it was demolished. Lew is, like us, from the GHS Class of 1962 and is a real “hands on” guy. He took the window parts from the 2 schoolhouses and is refurbishing them to working order. He has completed and delivered the upper windows last Friday, October 31. He will complete the lower window sections this winter in his home workshop! So, next Spring we will be able to install all 8 windows. When I asked Lew what term to use to describe his work on the windows, he replied “refurbished”. I think the more appropriate term is “resurrected”, because these window parts are at least 135 years old and looked well beyond repair or further use! We also thank the Wakefield School owner for donating several window parts to us. Lew’s work and the Wakefield School window donation saved us many dollars!

Just about every day we worked on the schoolhouse someone would stop and ask us what we are doing as well as thanking us for saving this building. Their comments bolstered our resolve to complete this restoration. We welcome any of you to stop by, look over the project, and if we are there, talk to us about it!

Now, our current obstacle and challenge, is the floor with the big hole! That hole was caused when it was used as a granary and the weight of the wheat was just too heavy. An old neighbor stopped by one day and told us about it. He helped shovel out the wheat from the hole.

We welcome your comments, suggestions, financial support, and donations (monetary and historic educational items) for this project. Once there were 210 one room schools in Darke County, now there are only a handful worth saving. This school known as Joint District #19 located at the corner of Hillgrove-Woodington and Warvel Roads is being restored by us, Darke County Educational History, Inc., a 501c(3) non-profit. Check us out on our FaceBook Page. Our ongoing concern is securing grants to fully finance and complete this project.

By Jim Sommer and Bob Sharp, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Darke County Educational History, Inc.

Address

1314 Northview Drive
Greenville, OH
45331

Website

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=TL52U6CFKSYQS

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