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1831 - Rev. Everton Judson raised $2,600.00 from the citizens of Milan
to contribute to a new school being built in Milan - the Huron Presbytery
contributed $1,400.00. Judson wrote "Our first object is to train young
men for college and our second object is to prepare teachers for our
common schools." The town saw the value of an institute of higher learning
as a means to bring new families into the town, which would help the area
to grow. The Presbytery saw this school as a way of offering higher
education to people going into the ministry. The land, which at that
time was off Fay Street (later named Seminary Street and later named
Edison Street) was purchased from Daniel and Mary Hamilton for $166.30 for
almost 11 acres.
1832 - First classes were held in April of that year at the office of
John Smith. And some classes were held at the school during construction
later in the year.
1832 - The Huron Institute "Academy Building" was completed in
December of 1832. The floor plan of three stories included 10
classrooms, library room, apparatus room and two public school rooms.
1833 - Tuition charged was $4.00 per quarter, $3.00 for the English &
French departments. The citizens of Milan provided board from $1.00 per
week. There were 25 students at the end of first quarter, 36 at the start
of the second quarter and 90 by the end of the term (46 males/44 females).
1833 - Kneeland Townsend donated 200 volumes to the library of the
school.
1835 - Enroll grew to 127 students which were taught by
four teachers.
1839 -
Bradford Sturtevant, who had
two daughters attending Huron Institute, added a second story to his home across the street from the school.
That home was thought to be
one of the three Stevens houses built for his
children in 1829.
1942 -
Average number of students per year was 150.
1850 - Huron Institute
closed.
1851-57 -
Various schools opened and closed.
1858 - The school building was repaired and remodeled into
Western Reserve Normal
School* which is a school for the purposes of training teachers.
There was also a business section of the school.
1859 - Normal School classes started on January 1, 1859. Tuition is
$8.00 per 12 week courses.
1860 - Hamilton Colton's four daughters attended the Normal school studying
to be school teachers, music instructors and bookkeepers.
1861 - Thirteen men enlisted, recruited by Shelton Colton, to serve in the Civil War
on or about November 8th. Most of them were students from the Normal
School.
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Various Teachers from the Huron Institute
& Western Reserve Normal School (reunion book) |
1867 - 307 students attended the school (179 men - 129 women)
1869 - Photo taken of school with students standing in front of the
school.
1872/3 - Enrollment was now 133 students (65 women/68
men) - 4 teachers - 20 Trustees.
1889 - Western Reserve Normal School closed in March.
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Note on photos above: Even though the Normal
School was closed in 1889, the Milan public school did use the building for a period of time. The closed
school
photos shows boards over the first story windows, so when these photos were
taken, the building was not in use, so likely it was taken closer to the date that the school was torn down in 1909.
Note the trees removed from around the school. Also on the closed photo
on the lower right, to the right of the photo is the back of the receiving vault at the
cemetery which was built in 1886. |
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1909 - On January 30th, the building was sold to be razed and
salvaged. Winning bid was $131.80 from T. R. Washburn
1910 - On August 17th., the students from Huron Institute & the Normal
School meet in Milan to have a school reunion. The page at the top was
published in the
Official Souvenir Program
booklet. At that time, the two top stories of the building were
removed and there was a proposal to save the first floor by putting a roof
on it and turning it into a Huron Institute museum. They did not follow
through with the proposal and instead they put a ring of trees
around the building where the school was located.
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Historic photos of the Huron
Institute & Normal School reunion in Milan in 1910. The photo on the
left is the north side of the square with the center structure being
the Wonder Bar building and the photo on the right is the Milan
square. Photos courtesy of the Milan Historical Museum. |
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In 1955, the bell was donated to the
Milan Historical Museum. |
1910 - The razing of the building was completed. The
bricks from the school was used to build two small brick homes in Milan.
1911 - The Milan Cemetery expressed an interest in the
Seminary property.
1917 - On May 3rd., the Huron Institute Trustees
donated the large school bell to the local Presbyterian Church. And
seven days later, they approved for the property to be donated to the
cemetery.
1917 - On June 6th., six years after the cemetery
expressed interest in the Seminary property, the property was transferred
via a quit claim deed.
1921 - Carrie Hastings provided in her will for
the erection of a memorial chapel
to be built on the Normal School grounds. The Huron Institute had given
the property to the cemetery with the provision that the land be used only
as an entrance to the cemetery and as a park area. |
1922 - On June 23rd., the Huron Institute Trustees meet
and gave permission to the Milan Cemetery to erect the Hastings Memorial
Chapel on the Normal School grounds, hence it's location at the entrance
of the cemetery.
1932 - On the 100th. anniversary of the school, a memorial plaque honoring the principals of both schools was placed by
students on the site of the school onto a boulder.
2009 - On Wednesday, December 2nd. the MilanArea site owner, Ms. Shari
Bowers of the Milan Library and Mr. Tom Reel of the Milan Cemetery
association searched for the foundation of the Huron Institute to
establish exactly where the building was located and the approximate
dimensions of the building. We think we've found it!
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