EDITOR’S NOTE: Kenny Libben is the curator of the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville. More information on Loudonville’s history can be found at the museum’s Facebook page.
PERRYSVILLE — In 1882 the village of Perrysville built a new brick schoolhouse to replace the previous wooden structure that had only been built 11 years early but the growing student population had already outgrown.
In fact, while the building was under construction the town hall, was used as an overflow facility for classes.
The new brick school was built on west Third Street and house all grades, including the first High School which graduated the first two students in 1890.
Within a few decades the student population had once again outgrown the facility and a new, larger schoolhouse was required.
For this building a site on the western edge of town was selected, across Third Street from the former site of the private Greentown Academy.
The new facility would again house all grades, including the expanded high school. The building featured a gymnasium that doubled as an auditorium, locker rooms, a shop, spacious classrooms, administrative offices, and adjoining athletic fields.
With the introduction of school sports, the district adopted the moniker of “The Admirals,” an homage to the village’s namesake Oliver Hazard Perry (though it was a bit of misnomer, as Oliver only attained the rank of Commodore while his younger brother, Matthew, became Admiral).
The facility was finished in 1924, and in 1925 the old schoolhouse was razed.
The village, and especially the student population, continued to grow. In the 1930s, with new modes of transportation available, the State of Ohio began phasing out one-room schools and other small country school.
By 1935, Perrysville now included students from Greentown, Hickory Ridge, Lesley, McKay, Mud College, Pleasant Valley, Possum Hollow, Sugar Grove, Tannehill, Walnut Hall, and Wolf’s schools.
Fortunately, the spacious site the school was built on allowed for expansion and in 1951 a new addition was built that included a large cafeteria, dedicated library, expanded office space and more classrooms.
In 1961, under new recommendations from the State of Ohio, the residents of Loudonville and Perrysville both voted to merge their districts into one. In 1963, a new joint high school was built on the outskirts of Loudonville.
Initially, Perrysville students still attended the Perrysville school for grades K-6, then transfer to junior high at the C.E. Budd in Loudonville, and then end at the new High School.
In the mid 1980s that model was altered, with all students in both villages attending K-3 at the McMullen Elementary building, 4 to 6 at the C.E. Budd building, junior high in the Perrysville building, and then high school in Loudonville.
In 2012 the district made the decision to permanently close the Perrysville building, primarily due to efforts to consolidate and minimize financial costs associated with maintaining four separate buildings.
Temporary modular units were purchased and placed at the high school, along with modification to existing classrooms, in order to allow the high school to now accommodate the approximately 200 hunior high students.