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Southington Local School District Campus Name of Property Trumbull County Ohio County and State Beginning in the early 1960s, the consolidation of small, localized school districts was seen by state administrators as more efficient and economical to operate. As a result, many of Southington’s comparably sized neighboring communities combined their schools; in 1968, Bloomfield and Mesopotamia Townships merged their districts. To the south of Southington, Braceville consolidated with Warren Township (Leavittsburg) in 1970 to create the LaBrae school district. Later, in 1988, Farmington and Bristolville, to the north of Southington consolidated as well. Further northeast, Kinsman, Gustavus, Hartford and Vernon Townships merged schools to form Joseph Badger school district. A portion of Mecca, Greene and Johnstown Townships merged to form Maplewood Local, the southern portion of Mecca and Bazetta comprise Lakeview Local, and Mathews Local consists of Vienna and Fowler Townships. (Figure 3) Historically, strong local support for property tax levies and a deep seated sense of community has enabled Southington’s school to remain independent. This intact campus is representative of the response of Southington Township to changing demographics expressed by an increasing population and student enrollment. It reflects the evolution of the site from when the citizens voted to centralize their isolated one-room neighborhood schoolhouses in 1905, added the stylish Tudor inspired elementary building in the prosperous 1920s, initiated PWA aided modernization during the Depression and accommodated the phenomenal growth and development of the region through the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The site retains sufficient essential physical features, despite some alterations, to convey its association with the evolution of Southington’s educational system over the past one hundred years. The striking Chalker High School Building and distinguished 1906 elementary building flank the Civil War Monument, reflecting the exact design envisioned by Newton Chalker. Later additions illustrate the natural evolution of a growing community and school system. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Developmental history/additional historic context information (if appropriate) The first permanent settlers in the portion of the Connecticut Western Reserve that would become Southington Township were Luke Viets and his wife, James Chalker, his wife and two children, and Roderick and Horace Norton all from Litchfield County, Connecticut on 1805. They were soon joined by more settlers, also mostly from Connecticut. The first school term in Southington is said to have been ca. 1814 in a double-log home located about three quarters of a mile southeast of the center of the Township. By 1817, the Township had been organized into nine election districts, which also served as individual school districts for the community. In 1824, the first attempt to organize and fund the construction of a permanent school was made. Thirty of the original settlers pledged from between one and eight days labor to help construct a schoolhouse at one of two places, either the center of Southington Township or at another nearby location. This first attempt apparently did not yield enough commitment, because a second petition was formed. This petition contained pledges of not only labor, but material as well. In around 1825, a log schoolhouse was built near the center of the township, later replaced by a non-extant brick building. 20 As additional settlers populated the township, localized one-room schoolhouses were built as needed in the nine township school districts. The only known one that remains is now used as the community Town Hall, situated on a lot adjacent to and northeast of the Southington school campus. In general, development of the township was slow in comparison to other nearby communities. Factors that inhibited robust development included a lack of water, limited railroad access and the close proximity to 20 H. Z. Williams, History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties. Vol. II, (Cleveland, 1882) p. 523-524. 18
Southington Local School District Campus Name of Property Trumbull County Ohio County and State Warren, the county seat. Although mainly a farming community, Southington housed several cheese factories, a tannery, harness makers, carpenters, and a thriving sawmill. 21 The Township’s early educational system paralleled other rural communities throughout the county. While Southington’s sub-district based school system provided an adequate primary education, further education was gained by attending either the Western Reserve Seminary, first established as the Farmington Normal School in 1831, located five miles to the north, Warren City schools five miles east, or Hiram College, located ten miles to the west. This system served the community until 1906 when Southington’s district schools were centralized and the high school added. Ohio’s explosive population between 1800 and 1925 in great part facilitated the discussion of educational reform statewide. From the widely distributed settlements with a population of 45, 365 in 1800, Ohio had grown to 1, 980,329 in 1850, and 4, 157,545 in 1900. 22 In addition, census records indicate an increase in population for Trumbull County, specifically, of 6,195 residents from 1900-1910. 23 Development of the population in Ohio prior to 1850 was primarily rural agricultural in nature, with only 151, 375 or 7.6 per cent of the population inhabiting urban centers by the middle of the century. As a result, early educational legislation focused on sub-district school organization, found in rural communities, including how these entities were funded and administered. The autonomy of the sub-districts was based on the collection of tax revenue and distribution of funding. As the density of farming communities increased, State lawmakers scrambled to address increasing complexities of administering more students as well as regulating coursework through a series of legislative acts, amendments and appeals. Early in the second half of the nineteenth century serious discussion about reorganizing the administration of rural schools occurred. The Act of 1853 attempted to unify the funding for districts and sub-districts within townships by consolidating the power of taxation from each individual sub-district to a township board of education that would estimate the funds needed for the upcoming year, certify this estimate to the County auditor who assessed the amount of taxable property in each district. 24 This Act was largely unsuccessful due to local opposition by sub-district directors who sought to retain financial control of their specific entity. The Workman Act of 1892 effectively abolished not the sub-districts, but the sub-district directors. This legislation placed financial control of the township to the township’s elected school board. However, this Act was partially nullified in 1898 by legislation that provided for ‘modified’ sub-district organization. 25 However, the door was opened for true centralization of township school systems when Kingsville Township in neighboring Ashtabula County petitioned Ohio’s general assembly for permission to appropriate funds directly from taxes levied in their township to transport students living in district sub-districts within the township from their homes to a centralized high school in 1894. 26 The change in funding options was significant and followed years of conflict over who should control local educational purse strings and curriculum; individual sub-district directors or one comprehensive township elected board of education. The centralization movement began in earnest in Ohio when the General Assembly passed a law in 1898 that provided each district in Ohio the right to 21 Upton, p. 570. 22 Nelson L.Bossing, History of Education Legislation in Ohio, 1851-1925, Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, January 1930, Number 1, pp. 78-219. 23 http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/oh190090.txt 24 Ohio Teachers’ Association, Centennial Committee, A History of Education I the State of Ohio. A Centennial Volume, (The Gazette Printing House, Columbus, Oh. 1876). p. 40. 25 Ohio Department of Education, Study of Local School Units in Ohio, Columbus. 1937. p.26 26 Ibid p.63-65. 19
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