3 Harris Road (Route 167)
Listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places

How It All Started

Built for $1,538.34, Schoolhouse No. 7 opened in December 1865. Henry Barnard, Connecticut’s First Commissioner of Education, called it the “finest school in the state.”

Miss Francis, its first teacher, earned $96.00 for a four-month winter term. In those days, teachers had no long-term tenure, so they often moved from town to town, usually boarded with townspeople, and were paid only at the end of the term, with female teachers earning less than their male counterparts. Usually, more female students attended over the summer because the males were working on the farms, but the situation reversed in winter terms.

Later named Pine Grove Schoolhouse by its students, the building served students from several adjacent towns, as students walked to school regardless of the weather, even if it was several miles. The building served as a school for 84 years until it closed in 1949. Later, it continued to be used as a branch library, nursery school, and meeting place for Explorer Scouts. It even served as a venue for a local church choir to rehearse because a one-room schoolhouse was cheaper to heat than the larger church.

1975 Restoration

The Avon Historical Society began restoration in 1975 as a U.S. Bicentennial project. The society restored the remaining outhouse in 2012. In 2014, the society added an informational kiosk about the school to the site, built as a Boy Scout Eagle project. Today the school is set up as an early 20th-century schoolhouse complete with bolted desks (c. 1865), hand slates (c. 1900), textbooks (19th - 20th c.), and more. On display are many photos and stories from former alumni. Come ring the old brass handbells, sit at a small desk, see the old water pump, hold the old sporting equipment, and imagine what it was like to learn in a one-room school with children of all ages.

2026 Renovation

PR Contact: Andrew Blum, AJB Communications  |  [email protected], 917-783-1680

August, 2026 marked the start of a major three-part renovation project to honor the history of the one-room schoolhouse. The new project includes painting the interior of the historic building, fixing a broken 19th-century chalkboard pulley system to raise and lower it, and repairing several small holes in the roof.

The Society conducted a major three-part renovation of the iconic 1865 Pine Grove Schoolhouse to honor the history of the one-room schoolhouse in New England and throughout the United States. The renovation also marked a continuation of the celebration of America’s 250 in Avon, a hotbed of activities this year commemorating the nation’s Semiquincentennial.

An open house to unveil the recently renovated building to the Farmington Valley, CT, community was set for September 26, but the event was moved because a nor’easter was forecast to hit the East Coast and New England that weekend.

"Out of respect for Mother Nature, we’re ringing the final school bell on the newly renovated Pine Grove Schoolhouse for the season,” said Society President Terri Wilson. “We will reopen in May 2027 with a grand reopening party that might include other improvements that will see us staying open year-round."

The rescheduled open house will showcase the schoolhouse and its recent renovation, along with a range of activities, photography, and the reopening of a time capsule sealed during the schoolhouse's 1976 renovation 50 years ago.

Avon Town Historian Nora Oakes Howard noted that the learning of history has been under fire lately. Yet, she added, that in the midst of such attacks, and many more against the study and practice of American history, “I take heart from this historic schoolhouse and its renovation.”

“It’s all because of professionals and volunteers wanting to showcase the story of public education for children. They are broadcasting history to the visiting public – not erasing it,” Howard said, praising Wilson for spearheading the project.
“Avon’s one-room schoolhouse carries a mighty message. It symbolizes Thomas Jefferson’s progressive view that only an educated public could help prevent corruption and abuse of power,” Howard said.

“History, it turns out, still matters. So do local stories that historians uncover and share,” she added. “Avon’s programs for America 250 and its restoration of the Pine Grove Schoolhouse are a triumph for our small town. For those adults and children who are so vigorously taking part in Avon’s America 250 events, I know we are making a big difference.”

The Society’s recent renovation of the schoolhouse followed its last major upgrade in 1976, when the Society signed a lease with the Town of Avon to operate it. The Society has done minor upkeep over the past 15 years. The new project included painting the interior of the historic building, fixing a broken 19th-century chalkboard pulley system to raise and lower it, and repairing several small holes in the roof.

The Society also has announced that the project will be the subject of a documentary planned for 2027 entitled “A Coat of History: Preserving the 1865 Pine Grove Schoolhouse.” Documentary filmmaker Adriana Davis of Avon-based D-Squared Media and Wilson are co-directing and co-producing it. For more information about the documentary, go to: https://acoatofhistoryfilm.com

The documentary poses the question: How can this small town, inspired by America’s 250 commemoration, reignite the spirit begun by our country’s founders who encouraged a public education for all?

“Pine Grove is not a musty, do-not-touch museum. When I first walked through its doors, I could almost hear the walls whispering a life-long love of learning into my ears,” said Davis.

“To tell its story, our film needed to journey beyond its 161-year-old structure and into the hearts of a community determined to honor the power of primary education in a child’s life,” she said. “The documentary archives the building’s history and physical makeover but also peels back the layers of paint to share the memories of former students and teachers alongside the impressions of new visitors and schoolchildren amazed at what learning was about in a 19th century environment.”

The schoolhouse, which was renovated by the Society for the 1976 Bicentennial, has been open to visitors for almost 50 years. At one time in the U.S., there were 190,000 one-room schoolhouses; Avon had seven of them. The Pine Grove Schoolhouse operated for 84 years, and is listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places.

The interior painting was done through a local partnership with Thomas Mach Interiors of Simsbury, Conn., who donated consultation, and project management services. The specialized paint was made by Farrow & Ball Paint & Paper (F&B), a UK-based manufacturer of handcrafted richly pigmented paints and unique wallpapers. F&B donated the paint for the schoolhouse.

“Thomas Mach Interiors and Farrow & Ball are delighted to support the Avon Historical Society in the thoughtful restoration of the historic schoolhouse interiors,” said Mach. “Living museums like this are more than beautifully preserved spaces - they keep the stories, craftsmanship and character of our communities alive, connecting new generations with the people and places that helped shape our shared history.”

Donors for the labor part of the schoolhouse painting included long-time Society supporter Pat Moran in memory of her mother Harriet Moran, proceeds from the Society’s TABLESCAPES 2026 fundraiser, and Delmonte and Martha Davis of New York City. Pat Moran was a nursery school student at the Pine Grove site in the 1950s. Martha Davis’s mother, Arline Judd Olson, was the oldest surviving pupil of the schoolhouse before she passed away in 2016 at the age of 100.

The interior preparation and painting work started August 5 and was completed August 21, 2026.

About Thomas Mach Interiors and Farrow & Ball Paint & Paper
Thomas Mach Interiors, based in Simsbury, Conn., provides luxury interior and exterior painting, in-home color consulting, kitchen cabinet makeovers, and full interior design services. It also works with interior designers and has a professional painters program. For more information go to: https://thomasmachinteriors.com/

Farrow & Ball, based in Dorset, England, is dedicated to creating eco-friendly paint and wallpaper using top ingredients and rich pigments. Each paint contains a blend of up to five pigments and an eco-friendly water base. Farrow & Ball uses recyclable materials, responsibly sourced ingredients, and sustainable business practices. For more information, go to:
https://www.farrow-ball.com/us/

About D-Squared Media and Adriana Davis
D-Squared Media is a full-service production company based in Avon, CT. The company produces and edits documentaries, feature films, podcasts and corporate videos. D-Squared has offered film and video production management, writing, editing, and voice-over casting/directing services to a wide variety of clientele for the last 30 years. For more information, go to: http://dsquaredmedia.com/

Closed for the Season

The Schoolhouse is open seasonally from summer through early fall on Sundays from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. It is now closed for the season.

Also available for the public is the Pine Grove Schoolhouse Little Free Library located next to the building on the south side. It is full of books for every age and interest level. Feel free to take or leave a book or two anytime. It is accessible to everyone 24/7.  It is registered with www.littlefreelibrary.org where you can find other little libraries anywhere in the world.

In addition to the Pine Grove School House Little Free Library, there is another attraction on the premises. In 2020 Avon residents, Bill, Agnes, and Emma Brown hid a geocache on the property. Geocaching, like little free libraries, is a worldwide treasure hunt through their website www.geocaching.com. This particular cache, named “Simpler Times” is in a handmade birdhouse. You will have to visit it to learn more!