Michigan’s Oldest Cobblestone One-Room School Sits in Ionia County

It’s one of Michigan’s most curious structures that once people find out about it, they have to go see it. It’s the oldest, still-standing cobblestone one-room schoolhouse in the state.

Some feel that aside being the oldest cobblestone, it's also THE oldest existing schoolhouse in the entire state. Either way, it's historic enough to have been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

The school’s official title is the Sessions Schoolhouse, named after New York schoolteacher Alonzo Sessions, who moved to Ionia County in 1835 when he was 25 years old. He ended up marrying the daughter of Ionia's founder, Samuel Dexter, which didn't hurt his community status. From there, he was elected into the state House of Representatives and was Michigan's Lieutenant Governor in 1876 and 1880.

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But before his political career, Sessions wanted to continue teaching in Michigan, so in 1847, he built the schoolhouse out of cobblestone on his own farmland property. For 51 years the school prospered but closed in 1898 after a larger schoolhouse was needed to handle more kids. A new schoolhouse was constructed just across the street from the cobblestone school.

The cobblestone became used as a "pest house", used to contain people who were afflicted with communicable diseases, like smallpox and cholera. Often misinterpreted, the term “pest” meant the diseases, NOT the people who were afflicted and needed care.

In 1918, the cobblestone was restored and a bronze commemorative plaque was placed at the site. It underwent more restoration in 1958. The newer schoolhouse across the road is also still there and only looks slightly larger than the cobblestone. Depending on your point of view, it sometimes looks smaller! No way could it have handled more than 5 extra kids...so what was the point unless they utilized both schoolhouses...but they didn’t.

The second school currently has a sign in front that reads "Ionia County Sheriff's Posse Clubhouse".

Take a drive-by.....it's always good to visit these places first-hand to get a real feel of Michigan's past. Located out in the country on W. Riverside Drive, approximately 5 miles southwest of Ionia.