About The Museum


		The one-room schoolhouse, in which the museum is housed, was built in 1872 and was an operational school until 1905. Now it serves as a museum of historic artifacts and is maintained by the Ridgewood Historical Society. Formerly District School No. 45, the Museum features exhibits that emphasize the historic Saddle River Valley area in the 18th, and 19th centuries, an area that was primarily Dutch when first settled. Today the museum's artifacts and displays reveal heavy emphasis on the Victorian period of 1840 to 1900 and how people lived their lives. The photograph shows farm and household tools from that era. (Click photo to enlarge.) On display is a large variety of artifacts that illustrate life as it was lived more than a century ago. Central to the exhibit area is the actual classroom where students sat. Here visitors will find the original teacher's platform, blackboard, an 1850 map of the United States, illustrated reading charts, school desks, potbelly stove, and two kerosene ceiling lamps with tin shades. About 60 pupils attended the school, ranging from 1st to 8th grade. Other areas of the museum, include a replica of a 1900 kitchen plus a wide variety of objects standing in mute testimony to the relative hardships of the times. The museum gradually evolved through the generous donations of artifacts by area families, many of whom were the first families to settle here. Wool and flax wheels, colorful quilts, handcrafted toys, household articles, tools and pre-machine age farm equipment, toilet articles, a home medicine chest, Civil War items, and many other old and interesting objects tell a story of the past. Some of the artifacts date back to the Revolutionary War period. The schoolhouse is the last in a long line of schools built on the property of the old Paramus Church. This school, however, was built as a public school by the trustees of the then School District 45. Until the borough act of 1894, public schools were organized in geographic areas or districts rather than in specific townships. It was built as Public School District 45. The preceding schools were scattered about the property...one was located across what is now Route 17. None of them ever stood where this one is now located, nor was this school ever operated by the church. Click here for information about TOUR GROUPS

OUR MISSION

The mission of the Ridgewood Historical Society is to preserve the structure of the Schoolhouse Museum building as a historic landmark. Built in 1872 as a one-room district public school it subsequently became, upon incorporation of Ridgewood, public school #2, owned and operated by the Ridgewood Board of Education.

Furthermore, the mission of the society is to preserve and maintain the artifacts of the society’s collection which serve to represent the history, culture and lives of ordinary people of the Ridgewood area from Native America through the early 20th century when the schoolhouse operation was discontinued by the town of Ridgewood.

We also strive to find innovative ways to interpret and exhibit the artifacts so as to capture and maintain the attention of our visitors.-

In photo, antiques expert Judith Katz-Schwartz, left provides Debbie Kovach, Historical Society President, with critical data on the museum's collection of 19th century transferware. (Click on photo to enlarge.)