Southington Township School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Southington Township School | |
 Original Chalker High School in 2022 | |
  | |
| Location | OH 305, Southington, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°18′32.4″N 80°57′28.8″W / 41.309000°N 80.958000°W |
| Area | Southington, Ohio |
| Built | 1907 |
| NRHP reference No. | 10001214[1] (original) 12000464[2] (increase) |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 4, 2011 |
| Boundary increase | August 1, 2012 |
Southington Township School is a historic district located in Southington Township, near Warren, Ohio, United States. The district includes the original Chalker High School and Southington Elementary School, both built in 1906 and completed in 1907. It also includes the Southington Civil War monument and park, located between the two school buildings, which was built in 1910. The district was originally listed in 2011 as Chalker High School and included the monument. In 2012, the district was expanded and renamed to include the adjacent elementary school after several additions and later modifications were removed.
The district was created as a result of a donation from Newton Chalker, an attorney who was born in Southington in 1842.[3][4] At the time, like most rural areas, Southington had a number of one room schoolhouses. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rural areas began to consolidate schoolhouses into a central school building. Southington residents had voted down a proposal to consolidate the schoolhouses in 1903. In September 1905 Chalker offered to fund a high school and library for the township if residents voted to approve consolidation and build a separate elementary school. Voters approved consolidation on October 10, 1905, and the original campus was started in mid-1906 and completed in August 1907, consisting of the Chalker High School building and a smaller elementary school. In 1910, Chalker funded construction of a Civil War monument and park in the area between the high school and elementary school.[4]
The original Chalker High School building and the Civil War monument and park were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 4, 2011, as Chalker High School.[5][6] The following year, the district was expanded and renamed to include the former elementary school after later additions and modifications to the building, which had prevented it from being listed, were removed from the site.
