South Salem Stone School

This schoolhouse was built here in 1857 on land deeded to the school district by Welcome J. Partelo. The unusual use of fieldstone for a schoolhouse contrasted with the earlier log cabin structure it replaced. The school was temporarily named Jarvis School for William Jarvis, an early board member for South Salem Stone School. Enrollment ranged from fifteen to thirty-five students from grades one through eight. A 1941 addition housed bathrooms, coatracks, and storage. This was the oldest school still operating in Washtenaw County when it closed in 1967. The school sat vacant and deteriorating until 1978, when the Salem Area Historical Society bought and restored it to function as the society’s headquarters. The 1887 out-building was re-created in 2005 based on historical photographs.

[Back]: John Dickerson (1795-1882) settled in this area around 1825 with a cousin, Joseph, and his wife, Amy. They were among the first European-American settlers in Salem. Dickerson, a prosperous farmer, owned 270 acres of land by 1880. He built this timber-frame swing-beam barn circa 1830. Swing-beam barns originated in New England. They feature a large, un-obstructed opening for wagons made possible by a beam, tapered on both ends, that runs the width of the structure. The barn was rebuilt here between 2006 and 2007 after being moved from its original location at Six Mile near Chubb Road. Much of the framing was retained, but the chestnut swing beam was replaced with a like-kind white oak beam. The cladding and barn door were re-created, and a side door and battens between the joints were added during the reconstruction.