A View from the Vault: A Tale of Two Schools - Which is Thompson’s School House?

By Library, Museums and Press Staff

“A View from the Vault” showcases some of the unique, notable or rare items that are a part of the Special Collections and Museums holdings at the University of Delaware. Each month, we highlight a different item and share interesting facts or intriguing histories about it. If you are interested in seeing any of the materials featured in person or want to learn more about anything showcased in the series, please contact Special Collections and Museums at AskSpec or AskMuseums.

This three by four-inch cyanotype (a camera-less technique involving placing an object on paper coated with soluble iron salts, exposing to sunlight, and washing the paper with water producing white and Prussian blue images) showcases “Thompson’s School House.” 

Created in the 1890s, this cyanotype and others like it feature scenes of Newark and the surrounding countryside, recalling the bygone days of the one-room schoolhouse and creating an intriguing detective story. Situated on a steep slope, this schoolhouse has a porch, cupola, and three shuttered windows with a penciled inscription that reads “Thompson’s School House, P W & B RR (near Newark).” 

Thompson’s School House
Cyanotype ca. 1890s
Museums Collections, Gift of Mrs. William Ray Baldwin, Sr.

Research reveals two schoolhouses that are very similar and located near each other that could both claim the identity of Thompson’s School House.  Hillside School, located near Thompson’s Bridge and Chambers Rock Roads, and Milford’s Crossroad Public School near the intersection of Possum Park and Thompson Station Roads, both have ties to the Thompson family and share similar construction.  

Clues from the inscription, “P W &B RR near Newark” indicate Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, currently existing as Northeast Amtrak Corridor and the Philadelphia Main Line.  While that railway runs far south of the schools, another rail spur connecting Newark to Pomeroy, PA was in proximity to both schools, yet slightly closer to the Hillside School. 

Finally, on an early Mill Creek Hundred map, the intersection of Chambers Rock Road and Thompson’s Bridge Road indicates many Thompsons resided there, as well as the Chambers Farm, which the donor’s family often photographed. These findings suggest that Hillside School may indeed be “Thompson’s School House.”