A brief history prepared in 2003 by Ken Worsley

A rural community centre in north Whitby offers glimpse into Ontario’s past

Brooklin’s Spencer School is a well-preserved example of a 19th century brick schoolhouse.

(DurhamRegion.com, Sunday January 22, 2024)

The Spencer School was a one-room schoolhouse and one of only five that served the rural Township of Whitby in the late 1800s.

Can you imagine walking more than two miles to school each day, using chalk on small, wooden-framed, two-sided slates to learn your ABCs, or having your teacher check behind your ears for cleanliness? This was the typical experience of school children attending one-room schoolhouses in the 19th century.

A one-room schoolhouse could have anywhere from eight to 44 children at a time. During the school days, there was one teacher, one blackboard and rows of seating, assigned by reading levels instead of grades. At other times, the schoolhouse became a community hub for social gatherings and meetings.

In 1800s Ontario, these small schoolhouses began to dot the rural landscape, a push by the Ontario government to foster education, economic growth and social harmony. From the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, a single teacher in a one-room school was the dominant form of education for rural Ontario children.

One such location, known as Spencer School, was built around 1877 at the corner of Country Lane and Columbus Road West. It was one of only five schoolhouses that served the rural Township of Whitby at the time. Named after the Spencer family who farmed the land just to the east, it remained in use until 1965, when students were then bussed to Meadowcrest School in Brooklin.

Spencer School is a well-preserved example of a 19th century one-room brick schoolhouse, built in the Gothic Revival style, and retains most of its original external features. The building is still in use today, having been converted into a community centre in 1967.

In 2019, in association with Doors Open Whitby, a team of archeologists excavated the schoolyard, uncovering a variety of artifacts. On Jan. 23, with the relaunch of its Tea and History Speaker Series, the Whitby Historical Society will host guest speaker Dr. Katherine Hull, an archeologist involved in the Spencer School excavation.

Dr. Hull holds a Professional Class Archaeological License issued by Ontario’s Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. She has served as manager for numerous local archeological projects, including the investigation of Camp X and the management of heritage resources impacted by the Hwy 407 East expansion.