1871
School event
The collection
School history
From a wooden school to a brick building, generations of pupils and a home today.
The building has a beginning. The story has many.
A wooden predecessor stood on this site before the brick school. Contracts followed in February 1911; Pleasant Street opened for school use in January 1912. The 1915 photograph gives us a view close to those early years—not a photograph dated 1911.
The school, on tape.
An opening title reads “Pleasant St School, 6th Grade, 1992–1993.” People, photographs and school memories survive in this historical footage shared by Derrick Bowersock. The exact recording date is not confirmed, and its connection to a particular time capsule remains an open question.
From the school archive
Pleasant Street School: historical school footage
YouTube connects only when you load the player. The video will not autoplay.
Follow the school through time.
Choose a date, story or original newspaper source. The same timeline also brings in postcards, class years and Ashland objects as the collection grows.
14 items
No items in this view yet. Try All to keep exploring.
Browse all timeline entries
Through the years
December 1907 · mailed
Collection item
Card 0010, front. Scene and printing dates unknown.Owner’s postcard collection · PastView card 0010 A Christmas postcard to a teacher
Explore this item28 February 1911
School event
The new school contracts
Read the storyJanuary 1912
School event
Published in 1915; photograph date unknown.Will Duff, 1915 centennial history; Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center / Internet Archive The school opens for use
Read the storyMarch 1913 · captioned event
Collection item
Card 0080: West Main Street, captioned March 25, 1913; Photo by Wahl.Owner’s postcard collection · PastView card 0080 Postcards of the Ashland flood
Explore this item1914
School event
Parents and teachers organize
Read the storyPublished in 1915
Collection item
A centennial view of Ashland
Explore this item1939
School event
An addition honors two teachers
Read the storyApril 1987
School event
A Hall of Fame school
Read the storyJune 1987
School event
A handbell and a look ahead
Read the storyApril 1994
School event
Carnival days
View newspaper source (external)April 1998
School event
Preparing to say goodbye
View newspaper source (external)August 2021
School event
A search without a recovery
Read the story
People, milestones and memories.
School history
A new school for a growing town
Why Ashland planned another school—and the difference between building it in 1911 and opening it in 1912.
School history
Reading a School Postcard
Turn a familiar view over, and a building becomes a lesson in reading evidence.
School history
A school proud of its people
In 1987, a statewide honor celebrated the relationships that made Pleasant Street a school.
School history
A handbell, a notebook, and two capsule questions
What did pupils hope the future would remember—and which capsule was the 2021 search looking for?
School history
A carnival for play and learning
A 1994 school carnival connected playground ambitions, computers and a town willing to help.
School history
An addition that remembered teachers
A reported 1939 dedication honored two teachers. That date tells us something specific—not every detail of the construction.
A private home. A public history to keep learning from.
The former school is now a private home. Its history can be explored here without a visit, a present-day room tour or access to the property.