Windermere’s Historic Schoolhouse

Public School 75

by Debra Wood

Neglected for years, the newly restored 1887 Windermere Schoolhouse stands as testament to the fortitude of the community’s residents and their commitment to the town’s history.

“This place matters,” said Theresa SchretzmannMyers, a Windermere resident volunteering on the Historic Preservation Board and as chairwoman of the tree board. “It was the first school, the first church, the first orange grove. It’s the history that occurred at this site that makes this place.”

It is the only pre-1900 schoolhouse remaining in the area and the earliest remaining structure in Windermere. Mayor Gary Bruhn was beaming at the recent dedication, talking about it being a Florida Heritage Site and ringing a bell to welcome the nearly 100 people attending the event to tour the school.

Winderemere's Historic Schoolhouse The Windermere Schoolhouse (pictured before renovations began) is the oldest one-room schoolhouse in Orange County.

Schretzmann-Myers gave an overview of the site’s history, which she researched in the archives of the Orange County Regional History Center. She also worked with historic preservation experts.

Yet for many years, the building at 113 W. Seventh Ave. sat in ruins. The late town historian Carl Patterson applied six times for the schoolhouse’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which was finally granted in 2003.

Residents Save the Building

At one point, town officials planned to relocate the structure closer to Windermere Town Hall and even raised it up onto blocks. But facing outrage from residents and the loss of its National Register listing, officials decided to leave the school where it was originally built. Voters approved a charter amendment in 2012 to keep the school at the Seventh Avenue site, not wanting to destroy the significant structure.

Windermere received a $42,000 matching grant from the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources for the Florida Department of State, with assistance from the Florida Historical Commission, to renovate the structure. The town raised the balance of the funds.

The Historical School

The one-room, frame vernacular schoolhouse is one of the oldest buildings in Central Florida. Originally called Public School 75, it was not only a place of learning for children, but throughout the years, it also served as a church, polling place and community meeting place. The schoolhouse is built from locally milled heartwood from Florida long leaf pine.

Early students sat on rough plank seats, and wallboard painted black served as a chalkboard. In 1887, two teachers, a male and a female, earned $22 a month each. They taught as many as 22 students, in grades kindergarten through 12. Enrollment declined during harvest season. The youngsters, children of citrus grove owners and workers, arrived by horse and buggy or walked to school.

Winderemere's Historic Schoolhouse

The Windermere Schoolhouse, as it may have looked in 1887.

The schoolhouse predates settlement of the town by the Windermere Improvement Co. in the 1910s. Windermere built a larger school in 1916 at the corner of Main Street and Sixth Avenue. The police department, town offices and commercial tenants now occupy that structure.

The Lloyd Armstrong family moved into the original schoolhouse in 1918 and added living space and porches. Lloyd picked citrus at the Chase groves and packed fruit at the Chase packing house. The structure remained in the family until 1995, when one of Lloyd’s nine children — Eunice Armstrong Parramore and her husband, Manuel — donated the home to the town. According to testimony by family member John Armstrong, records show they were approached by Patterson during a public hearing in 2011. He added that the property was given “with the understanding it would be preserved as the Armstrong home and the 1890 schoolhouse.”

The town did little with the house, and it deteriorated. Ultimately, the town removed the porches and the added space. Tom Stroup, another Windermere resident, felt so strongly about preserving the schoolhouse, he fixed the roof one weekend to ensure it did not meet a similar demise as the house.

Windermere also fenced off an area next to the school with original and historical orange trees and other plantings. The site has become a treasured reminder of the town’s humble origins.

The Dedication

Dozens of people attended the dedication, listening to Schretzmann-Myers talk about the history of the school. Pam Gould and Bill Sublette, board member and chairman, respectively, of the current Orange County Public Schools, attended. Mayor Bruhn invited everyone in to view the orange-crate benches the children would have sat on and the blackboard tablets they would have written on. A teacher’s desk, orange crates for book storage, and a blackboard add to the ambiance.

The school is open by appointment, and Schretzmann-Myers expects it will be added to a student tour of the town. Restoration will continue, to fix some holes left by a woodpecker and some of the lower siding, as additional donations and funding become available. 💓