May 17 Whitney Schoolhouse Move Canceled Due To Wet Spring
The big move and celebration for the historic Whitney Schoolhouse that had been schedule for Friday, May 17, has been postponed until further notice.
“Due to the exceptionally wet spring and the potential for even more rain and storms, it has been determined that the best course of action at this time is to cancel the scheduled move and celebration,” Skyline Council of Landmarks Illinois said via Facebook.
The Whitney Schoolhouse is a Greek Revival one-room schoolhouse located in Campton Hills, which was built by John Whitney in 1852. It is the second-oldest known and intact one-room schoolhouse in Northeastern Illinois and the oldest one-room schoolhouse in Kane County.
In 2016, the group identified Campton Township as a future steward of the building, and had planned to move the building on Friday from its present location at 40W011 Burlington Road the township’s Gray Willows open space, about a mile0and-a-half away.
“Skyline Council and Campton Township thank everyone for their tremendous support as they work to preserve this piece of history,” organizers said on Facebook. “And don’t worry! Skyline Council and the township are hard at work on a revised plan. Stay tuned for more updates!”
Background
The schoolhouse sits at the corner of Wasco and Old Burlington Roads at the southeast corner of a seven-acre parcel, part of the once 300-acre Whitney Homestead. The schoolhouse is situated on a northeast-southwest axis and is setback 75 feet from Old Burlington Road and 100 feet from Wasco Road with its front facade facing Old Burlington Road.
The Whitney Schoolhouse has been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and a Kane County Register of Historic Places local landmark nomination is pending.
The building served as the schoolhouse for District 1 of Campton Township from 1852 until 1906, at which time three country schools were consolidated into Wasco Elementary School.
The schoolhouse was converted to a residence as early as the mid-1930s and served as such until it was vacated in the 1980s. Since then, the schoolhouse has remained vacant.
During the development of the Town Center and Wasco Study Area Plan in 2012 for the village of Campton Hills, a conceptual town center development was proposed in historic downtown Wasco and the open agricultural lands along Burlington and Wasco Roads.
The schoolhouse was the only historic resource identified by the community for future preservation.
In the spring of 2015, understanding the local and regional significance of the schoolhouse and its state of disrepair, the Skyline Council of Landmarks Illinois embarked on a long-term service project to help plan for the preservation and rehabilitation of the schoolhouse for a new public use.
Read More
Skyline Council Works To Restore Pre-Civil War Schoolhouse in Campton Hills
