Oldest School House, St. Augustine, FL, circa 1933

About this postcard

A small weathered wooden house with a shingled roof and chimney stands behind a picket fence, its front covered in purple wisteria; a bell hangs at the right. Painted signs on the wall identify it as the oldest wooden school house in the U.S.A. The building sits on St. George Street just inside St. Augustine's City Gates. The caption calls it the Oldest School House "under three flags" and notes that a Spanish map of 1788 shows the wooden house "in fair condition." A replica was displayed at A Century of Progress Exposition, the 1933-34 Chicago world's fair, in a comparison with a modern school building. The claim to be the nation's oldest wooden schoolhouse is traditional rather than documented, but the old red cedar house has long been a St. Augustine landmark and is open to visitors.