Sodom Schoolhouse is a historic octagonal school in West Chillisquaque Township,

Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Northumberland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,647. Its county seat is Sunbury. The county was formed in 1772 from parts of Lancas ...

, United States reportedly built about 1812, 1835, or 1836 and used until 1915.Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks, 1973, NRHP Nomination Form for Sodom SchoolhouseEnter "public" for ID and "public" for password to access the site.Pennsylvania Historical Marker Program
searchable database, search "Sodom School." It is located in a rural area on

Pennsylvania Route 45 Pennsylvania Route 45 (PA 45) is an state highway located in central Pennsylvania, United States. PA 45 is called the Purple Heart Highway. The western terminus of the route is at PA 453 in Morris Township near the community of Water Street. ...

near several Scotch-Irish communities: the "small group of houses" formerly known as Sodom, which was about a mile east of the hamlet of

Montandon Montandon () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography By road, the commune is southeast of Saint-Hippolyte. Population See also * Communes of the Doubs department The follo ...

, and about 3 miles east of a small town, Lewisburg.

Architecture

The eight-sided single story school was built of limestone quarried nearby, has a single chimney in the center of the roof, seven windows, and a single door on the south side facing the road. A vestibule was once attached where students hung their coats. The inside was painted slate grey, and a wood-burning stove stood in the center. On the north wall was a blackboard, with a 30-foot long, 10-foot wide, 8–10-inch high platform for the teacher. The teacher's chair and desk were painted red. Two recitation benches faced the platform. Six long rough desks were placed parallel to the walls and two more were placed in the center of the room. Students within a three-mile radius attended, sometimes as many as 100 at one time, but usually only 40–60 students attended.

History

The name of the school may come from the "Sodom Tavern" which did business in Montandon 1832–1855, or from the hamlet of Sodom which was named by Lot Carson, the owner of another tavern, who died by falling down a well while drunk.History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Herbert C. Bell, editor, Brown, Runk and Company, Chicago, 1891. See pages 720 and 724. Carson may have donated much of the building material to the school.Historic Educational Resources of Pennsylvania
Dominic Vitiello,

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...

, 2007. See page 20. Until 1858 the school building was also used as a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church on Sundays. It was also used for political meetings and elections. A cupola and bell once stood above the front door.Sodom School loses belltower
''Standard Journal'', May 2008, Montandon Community Days, excerpted from the 11 October 1977 issue of ''Here & Now''. Accessed 6 February 2011. Stories, or perhaps legends, say that the building of school was delayed by the start of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

when the builders went off to war, and not completed until their return from the war. The hamlets of Montandon and Sodom, however, were not established until the 1830s and 1835 is a more commonly accepted construction date. Several similar octagonal schools were built in Pennsylvania, especially in

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...

and rural

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

, for example the

Diamond Rock Schoolhouse The Diamond Rock Schoolhouse is a historic octagonal one-room school located in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1818, the schoolhouse closed in 1864 and later served as a studio for Wharton Esherick. A local ne ...

(1818), Birmingham Friends Octagonal School (1819), and the

Hood Octagonal School The Hood Octagonal School is a historic octagonal schoolhouse located in Newtown Square, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1841, and is a small, fieldstone, one-story, eight sided building with a wood shingled pyramidal roof. The s ...

(1841). One source suggests that octagonal schools are related to a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

educational movement that started about 1800 in England as the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

was beginning. Clapham School, built 1810 in or near London, may have been one of the first octagonal schools.Pennsylvania Historic and Museums Commission, undated, Historic Structure Report Enter "public" for ID and "public" for password to access the site. Restoration efforts started in 1935 and were completed in 1961 through the efforts of the Junior Historians Club at Milton High School.

References

External links

Google Street View
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Octagonal school buildings in the United States School buildings completed in 1835 Buildings and structures in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish American culture in Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish American history Pennsylvania state historical marker significations National Register of Historic Places in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania