The Harbaugh
School
1889 to 1930
Our family can claim a school named after one of its major branches. The one-room Harbaugh School was open from 1889 to 1930 in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, PA. The schoolhouse was near the old homestead of Civil War veteran David Harbaugh, whose parents, Leonard and Martha (Minerd) Harbaugh, settled in the area in 1837. The school site is now owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and the farm by the Clairton Anglers Club.
The 1st teacher was Alice C. Eyer in 1889, with 34 pupils enrolled but with average attendance of only 15. Her monthly salary was $23. Over the years, some of the other teachers were Garfield Younkin, Grover Nichols, George W. Steyer and Thelma B. Glover.
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1931 U.S. Geological Survey map (with a red dot added) showing the school's precise location, about a mile east of the Fayette/Somerset County border ("Laurel Hill"), and southwest of the town of Scullton (upper right). |
In 1930, the Harbaugh School was closed during the Great
Depression, as part of a township-wide consolidation to cut costs and offer
better advantages to children. The students were bused to Confluence Public
Schools where they were admitted on a "straight tuition basis."
Seen at right is a rare old postcard view of the public school in Confluence.
We would love to someday find a photograph of the Harbaugh School building.
If you might know where we might find such an image, please contact us via email.
Much of this text originally was published
in our 1997 reunion booklet,
A Sense of Wonder. Copyright
© 1997, 2002, 2007 Mark A. Miner