One-room school for sale

Posted on by Listify Me

For $25,000, you can own a piece of Pinckney-area history.

Hicks School, the one-room schoolhouse at M-36 and Farley Road, has been listed for sale by Realtor Rick Beaudin at the request of Pinckney Community Schools, which owns the building.

The 924-square-foot red building has remained dormant for at least the past five years. It was last used for educational purposes in 1972, when the district made use of the building to manage an overcrowded student population, said Pinckney Community Schools Board of Education President Anne Colone.

“We made the decision to sell it and asked (Superintendent Dan Danosky) to contact someone to put it on the market and see if there was any interest,” Colone said.

Colone said there isn’t much the district can do with the building, especially given the recent difficult financial times. However, its history is unique, and the building could have significant value to the right party.

Historical highlights of the building, according to the now-defunct Pinckney Area Historical Society, include:

  • On Sept. 24, 1849, the public voted to raise $100 to build the school, which was completed in June 1850.

  • The school was likely named after George Hicks, son of Solomon Hicks, a board member and patron of the school.

  • In 1850, each parent of a student at the school provided one cord of wood to heat the school during winter months.

  • Teachers’ wages in 1850 were “$1.50 to $2” per week; teachers boarded with families of schoolchildren.

  • The building was used as a one-room school until it consolidated with Pinckney Community Schools in 1949, and it was utilized as a classroom up until 1972. Subsequently, the building was used for storage and, for a time, served as headquarters of the Pinckney Area Historical Society.

    According to Colone, the building has access to electricity and is in “decent shape.”

    Beaudin said the roof needs to be replaced.

    For more information on Hicks School, contact Beaudin at (810) 231-0011.

    Contact Daily Press Argus reporter Frank Konkel at (517) 552-2835 or at fkonkel@gannett.com.