Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse

The Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse is located in Saint Augustine and is more than 200 years old. It was used as a school for Florida school children when the area was under the rule of Imperial Spain. It is made of red cedar and cypress wood, which is held together by handmade nails and wooden pegs. The schoolmaster and his family occupied the upper floor of the schoolhouse, right above the classroom. They had a separate kitchen to decrease the threat of a fire and lessen the heat in the school during the warm summer months. The building had no electricity, no privy and no running water. Children would go outdoors to use the bathroom, which was a hole dug in the ground surrounded by a wood structure for privacy. The drinking water for the day would be drawn from a nearby well. Many of the utensils that were used in the kitchen are still on display in the house for visitors to see. There are also copies of text books and a variety of school supplies used by children when the school was in operation. The school was the first co-ed school, educating both male and female students as of 1788.