Prior to 1820 exisitng schools were mostly private by design. The tuition cost of a school term, usually three dollars, was a luxury well beyond the reach of most citizens. Yet it is interesting to note that Ohio’s population in 1803 was nearly 60,000; Ohio being one of the first states developed from the Northwest Territory era. This led to an 1825 law where free education became the rule. Public School was now in session in the soon-to-be Lake County. Early pioneer schools sprang up. These schools were of a crude log design and often a 30’x50’ size at best. An 1840 census indicated 407,000 children ages 6-15 attended schools. Usually townships were divided into 6 or 7 sections hence the need for 6 to 7 schools. School terms ran May thru September and November thru April. Within a few years, the first pioneer schools were replaced by buildings now made of stone. The Old Stone Schoolhouse (1840) on Ravenna Road was Concord’s third school but the first quarried stone structure in the county. 

Written by Dan Maxson, Curator of the Old Stone Schoolhouse