Photo Credit: Jeff Kaskey / Livermore Heritage Guild / Students outside of the Midway School in 1941.
(LIVERMORE, Calif.) – A 19th-century school, closed to students since 1946, could soon welcome a new generation of learners. The Midway Museum Project, organized by the Livermore Heritage Guild, aims to relocate and restore the historic Midway School, transforming it into a living history museum where local elementary students can experience what school was like in the late 1800s.
The Livermore Heritage Guild (LHG), the city’s historical society, was founded in 1973. The guild currently manages several properties including Hagemann Ranch and the Duarte Garage, built in 1915. The LHG also introduces third graders to history with HistoryMobile, a travelling museum.
Jeff Kaskey, City Historian of Livermore and the manager for the Midway Museum Project, told OpGov.News that the Guild first learned of the schoolhouse in 2006 when a property owner contacted the guild after a rancher found and towed the abandoned building onto his property.
Photo Credit: Jeff Kaskey / Livermore Heritage Guild / The Midway School in more recent years.
After the City of Livermore was founded in 1868, smaller communities developed around the city center, each with its own schoolhouse, according to Kaskey. The Midway Schoolhouse was built around 1885 and was located on the eastern edge of Alameda County.
For the past two decades, LHG has been developing a plan for the building and raising funds for its restoration.
The guild will be relocating the historic schoolhouse to the fence line between Hagemann Ranch, which it has managed since 2016, and Hagemann Park. The location and proposed operation of the Midway Museum by LHG is the result of discussions with the City of Livermore and the Livermore Area Recreational Parks District, which operates Hagemann Park.
“Fortunately because we have been around for 50 years and because we’ve had these various different partnerships with the city, we were able to make the case that we’re not going to disappear overnight,” said Kaskey.
The guild has raised money through fundraisers and auction events dating back to the project’s inception in 2006. More recently, the guild has been running an active capital campaign which has raised over $200,000 for the Midway Museum Project through donations from local residents. They are also selling fundraising bricks to go into the patio outside the restored schoolhouse.
“If we talked a year ago, I might have sounded pretty depressed, but we are really just getting the details in place now. It’s looking shockingly real right now,” Kaskey said.
Kaskey is planning to relocate the building this month, and is allotting two to three months for restorations. He hopes to be open for school events starting this spring. Students will make a field trip to the Midway Museum for a day for an immersive historical experience centered around what a typical Livermore school day may have looked like in the late 1800s.
At the Midway Museum, students will experience a school day modelled on life in the late-19th century Livermore. Dressed in period clothing, students will study from “The McGuffey Readers,” standard American schoolbooks of the era. They will also take part in school day chores such as hauling water from the pump for washing, and writing with chalk on slate.
“We’re very excited about how close we are, but also just the possibility of bringing this project as a part of our local history program for the kids here, for the schools,” said Kaskey. “If that helps kids feel they understand the heritage of their town and they have a bit more investment in their town, then we think we’re doing the right thing there.”
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at macey.w@lead4eath.org or leave a comment below with your thoughts.
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