By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
COLTS NECK – The historic Montrose schoolhouse at the corner of Cedar Drive and Montrose Road in Colts Neck will be one of dozens of sites open to the public during the Weekend in Old Monmouth tour.
Weekend in Old Monmouth is an annual event when dozens of historic sites in the county open their doors to visitors and waive their admission fee. Sites on the self-guided tour will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 6 and from noon to 5 p.m. May 7.
Weekend in Old Monmouth is coordinated by the Monmouth County Historical Commission.
Visitors to the Montrose schoolhouse may park on Holland Lane.
This is the second year the Montrose schoolhouse is on the tour. Guests will be able to purchase a Colts Neck historic map and folio art glass items of the Montrose schoolhouse and the Bucks Mill water wheel.
The Colts Neck Historical Preservation Committee provided a summary of the circa 1812 Montrose schoolhouse.
The building “is the last of the township’s six one-room schoolhouses. … it is the only one that retains its original architectural profile. Three are now private residences and two others are no longer with us.
“One is not certain when the (Montrose) school was originally built, but all sources agree the structure was built before 1820, maybe 1790, or possibly 1805. The Montrose schoolhouse was originally known as the Barrenton School located in ‘the Barrens’ just to the west and moved to its present location. Its name was changed at that time.
“With the opening of the Atlantic School on Route 537 in 1922, the (Montrose) schoolhouse ceased operation. It remained the property of the Emmans family until 1965 when it was donated to the now defunct Colts Neck Historical Society. There it sat for over three decades, opening only once for a historic Colts Neck house tour.
“In 2003, it was deeded to the township for $1 and restored by the Township Committee under the guidance of then Mayor Lillian Burry and the Historical Preservation Committee. The Montrose schoolhouse retains its original pumpkin pine floors, a potbelly wood burning stove and a collection of period school desks. The Montrose schoolhouse is opened on special occasions.”