The Old Schoolhouse

One of the things I love most about geocaching is going to out of the way places I never would have stopped at, even if I did happen to stumble across their path. Yesterday was not exception. Jodie and I stopped here.

The Lower Fern Ridge School House, once slated to become scrap wood, has been refurbished and relocated on private land. The schoolhouse is a one-room school built prior to 1890, and is the last standing building from the town of Alvadore's heydey in the 1900s. It has the iconic architecture of a country schoolhouse from its bell tower to its abrupt, window-less front and interior wainscoting.

The last remaining graduate of the Lower Fern Ridge School lives in the community and has painted a solid picture of what the interior and grounds of the school once looked like, from the pot-belly stove to the desks and recital bench. The names of school kids from over 100 years ago are still visible, scrawled in graphite under the former coat racks, and carved in to the backs and sides of the building.

Unfortunately, the schoolhouse itself wasn't open to tour yesterday (We did find the cache outside). This is a beautiful setting. Jodie and I sat on a bench in the sun for a few minutes, simply enjoying the day.

It's worth it to take a few minutes to watch the video about the restoration. They've done a lot to rescue this piece of local history.

On the same grounds as the schoolhouse is the Camas Country Mill Bakery. We stopped in to get some flour. My son-in-law says it's the best for baking his signature breads. The owners are very nice people and the shop has a beautiful locally sourced inventory.

I'm looking forward to returning when the pandemic is over and the kitchen is open to enjoy a freshly-made sandwich and picnic lunch. Jodie says their food is fantastic.