The Eagle Harbor Schoolhouse is a school located at the corner of Third and Center Streets in

Eagle Harbor, Michigan Eagle Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located on the north side of the Keweenaw Peninsula within Eagle Harbor Township, Keweenaw County in the U.S. State of Michigan. Its population was 69 as of the 2020 cens ...

, United States. It is significant as the location where Justus H. Rathbone was first inspired to write the ritual which was the basis of the

Order of the Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was found ...

. The schoolhouse was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is also known as the Pythian Shrine and as the Rathbone School.

History

The Eagle Harbor Schoolhouse was constructed in 1853 by local builders, and opened to serve the community's children that same year. It was the first schoolhouse built in the area. In about 1859 or 1860, Justus H. Rathbone began a stint as schoolmaster at the school. Rathbone had moved to the

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...

in 1857 on the advice of his doctor, and taken a position as schoolmaster and part-time clerk at the Central Mine. He later moved on to schools at the Northwest Mine, Eagle River, and to this schoolhouse in Eagle Harbor. While teaching at Eagle Harbor, Rathbone and his friends formed a dramatic society and staged plays, including John Banim's '' Damon and Pythias''. The themes of friendship in the play inspired Rathbone; according to him: During his time teaching in Eagle Harbor, Rathbone wrote the ritual which became the basis for the

. Rathbone himself stayed in the Keweenaw only until 1861, when he learned of the death of his father. The Order of the Knights of Pythias was officially founded three years later in Washington, D. C., and was dedicated to the principles of "friendship, charity, and benevolence." The schoolhouse continued to serve the community until 1892. In the 1920s, the Pythians purchased the schoolhouse and added a gable roof to the existing belfry. A bronze memorial to Rathbone was erected nearby in 1931, and the building currently functions as a Pythian shrine. In 1971, the historical importance of the site was recognized by its designation as a Michigan State Historic Site, and the following year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982, the schoolhouse was deeded to the Keweenaw County Historical Society. The Society furnished the interior as a period school, and included exhibits related to the Knights of Pythias. The building is open to the public during the summer and early fall.

Description

The Eagle Harbor Schoolhouse is a square building with gabled roof measuring . The structure is covered with clapboard siding pierced by sash windows covered with shutters. The shingled gable roof has

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

returns, and a gabled belfry frame sits on one end of the roof.

References

External links

{{Authority control Education museums in the United States History museums in Michigan Keweenaw National Historical Park Knights of Pythias buildings Michigan State Historic Sites in Keweenaw County Museums in Keweenaw County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Keweenaw County, Michigan School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Schoolhouses in Michigan