The one-room Hill and Plain Schoolhouse, located on Sullivan Road in New MIlford, was built in 1843. It measures 18 feet by 35 feet including a small front porch area and sits on almost one acre of land. There are two front entry doors: one that was used by girls and the other for boys, as was the practice during the time it was built.

    This schoolhouse served the families in the southern part of New Milford until 1940. Betty Clark was the last teacher to hold classes there during the 1939-1940 school term with an enrollment of sixteen students.

    In 1987, Ruth M. Sullivan, then owner of the land and schoolhouse, donated this property to the New Milford Historical Society. During the years immediately following, restoration was done to the building and surrounding land. A new roof was installed and repairs were done with timbers from the old White Turkey Inn in Brookfield after it was torn down to make way for a new shopping center. When attempting to fix the floor joists from the inside, the original wide floor boards were uncovered and restored.

Schoolhouse after repairs to roof

  Recently, this building has not been used due to its compromised condition. We are now embarking on a comprehensive restoration plan to preserve and use the schoolhouse.

  A committee has been formed and a Facebook page has been established. We have been consulting with Town offices and officials, Greg Farmer, and the CT Trust for Historic Preservation, and The New Milford Trust for Historic Preservation. We’d like to also thank Paul Szymanski from Howland Associates for consulting with us about structural engineering concerns, zoning, and development practices.

  We are grateful to all of these people and organizations for their help with this project and hope to continue working with them.

   Last Fall, under the guidance of the State Historic Trust, we qualified for a mini grant to stabilize the building for the winter.

Thanks to Lisa Rousch and Loretta Kretchko. 

Schoolhouse roof during repairs