Location: District #2 – Section 9, southwest corner of Milham Road and Westnedge Avenue.
The original District No. 2 school , a Greek Revival structure built about 1840, stood near the northwest corner of Milham and South Westnedge Avenues. In 1864, it was replaced by a new building across the road on the southwest corner. It was used by the Portage school system until 1923 when it was consolidated. The building was then sold to Arthur and Birdie Pierce, who remodeled it into a home. it stood on that location until sometime in the 1950s when it was moved to the east side of Oakland Drive about half a mile from the Milham Avenue and Oakland Drive intersection. It was still being used as a residence at least as late as 2017. There is a photograph of it in its remodeled state on page 68 of Portage and Its Past.
Carpenter’s Corners School is not listed in the Kalamazoo County school directories, our run of which begins in 1925, after the school was closed, so no list of teachers is available at this time.
“…the old school house which so well subserved the wants of the pioneer generation, has lately given way to a more costly and commodious structure, which is well worthy of special notice. The building is a frame one and painted white. The yard, foundation, size, height of the building and cupola, each with its proportion and fitness, seem to contribute to its beautiful appearance. Everything from foundation to belfry is done in a substantial and workmanlike manner. The school room is 18 feet from floor to ceiling, well ventilated and nicely furnished, being grained and varnished, and seated with the patent iron frame folding seat. The windows are moved with weights and pullies, and have the Lap window shade attached. This gives the pupils plenty of fresh air to breathe, and a good seat to sit on, two very essential things for the health and comfort of the children while attending school. They have a good liquid slating blackboard, constructed within two feet of the floor that the smaller pupils may use it as well as the larger ones. There is a bell in the belfry whose silvery note can be heard throughout the District.” The building was built by John Adams for a cost ‘not far from $2,400’.”
—Kalamazoo Telegraph, 2 September 1872.
Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library, 1999. Mapped October 2008. Last updated 3 March 2022.