Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, St. Augustine

The Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse on St. George Street doesn鈥檛 need a fancy name鈥攊t tells you exactly what it is. Records show it on the tax rolls by 1716, making it the oldest surviving wooden school building in the country, born under Spanish colonial rule. Built from bald cypress and red cedar, fastened with hand-forged nails and wooden pegs, it doubled as both classroom and home鈥攖he schoolmaster lived upstairs while his students filled the benches below.

In 1780, Minorcan immigrant Juan Genopoly bought the property and gave it new life as both homestead and schoolroom. He and his family taught the basics鈥攔eading, writing, arithmetic, and religion鈥攖o children of Spanish settlers, Minorcan families, and others who made up St. Augustine鈥檚 diverse community. The last class graduated in 1864, and since then the little building, sometimes called the 鈥淕enopoly House,鈥� has stood as a rare witness to colonial education in Florida.

Today, it works less as a classroom and more as a time capsule. Step inside and you鈥檒l find the small wooden desks, old textbooks, and even animatronic students keeping the lesson alive. A detached kitchen, a modest garden, and the so-called 鈥渄ungeon鈥� for unruly pupils round out the tour. Look closely outside and you鈥檒l see heavy iron chains, added in the 1930s to keep hurricanes from carrying the place off.

For visitors, the schoolhouse is a quick but fascinating stop鈥攑art curiosity, part museum鈥攖hat brings St. Augustine鈥檚 centuries of history down to the scale of a single room where children once learned their letters.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in St. Augustine. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "911爆料网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Sight Name: Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse
Sight Location: St. Augustine, USA (See walking tours in St. Augustine)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in St. Augustine, Florida

Create Your Own Walk in St. Augustine

Creating your own self-guided walk in St. Augustine is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles

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