Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum (1978-2022)

Located near the Tower Bridge, this replica schoolhouse opened as a living museum site in 1978, adjacent to the Old Sacramento waterfront. The museum is a replica of a traditional one-room schoolhouse from the 1800s, with rows of desks, chalkboards, and a wood-burning stove. Although the historic replica was constructed around the time of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, traditional one-room schoolhouses were established in 19th-century Sacramento to the south of X Street and in the northern part of Sacramento County. In 2022, the city decided to close the Old Schoolhouse Museum after forty-four consecutive years in operation.

The Old Schoolhouse Museum was dedicated in September 1977. A historical marker placed at the site during the dedication ceremony states, “Public Schools, Learning for Living.” Although the Old Schoolhouse Museum was permanently closed in 2022, it gave visitors an impression of a traditional one-room schoolhouse in the 19th century. Prior to 1849, formal public education was not universally available to all young people in the state of California. Instead, parents within each local community were responsible for providing education for their children. The first public school in Sacramento opened in February 1854. Each schoolhouse served as a social hub for the community.

During the museum’s 44 years in operation, visitors could sit at the individual wooden desks, which were clustered around a pot-bellied stove facing the front of the classroom. On each desk, a traditional 19th-century “reader” (schoolbook) contained the standard subjects for public education during the late 1800s, including reading, writing, and arithmetic. Inside the museum, visitors could take note of the daily lessons that were written on the chalkboards mounted on the walls, or that were shared by costumed interpreters. Historically, traditional one-room schoolhouses were taught by a single teacher who offered instruction for students in grades one through eight. The museum also included two sets of historic “Rules for Teachers,” one issued in 1886, and another issued in 1915.

Teachers were expected to follow the rules, otherwise they would be dismissed. Clothing and personal time were closely regulated. Male teachers were allowed one evening per week for courting and two per week if they were church-goers. Female teachers were expected to remain unmarried and “not engage in any unseemly behavior,” nor were they allowed to join a "feminist movement such as the suffragettes." The rules also stipulated the number of petticoats that female teachers were expected to wear, as well as the maximum length of the bustle on their dress. Liquor and smoking were strictly prohibited. Teachers were expected to perform daily chores such as cleaning the chimney and refilling the lamps. After ten hours in school each day, they were allowed to spend their remaining time reading “the Bible or other good books.”

"Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum Tour", Misfit Family Network, YouTube Channel. March 17th, 2021. Accessed September 17th, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEhaX8irFWw.

"Visit the Schoolhouse", Shewman. Accessed September 17th, 2023. https://shewman.com/visit-the-schoolhouse/.

Whittle, Syd. "Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum", Historical Marker Database. December 4th, 2008. Accessed September 17th, 2023. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14104.