This is the earliest known photo of the school and dates at about 1897.   A flag was given to the school by a Titusville group in 1896 and the flag pole was probably put up at that time.  Note the horse shed at the back left behind the school house.

This early photo probably dates from about 1900.  Note that a window has been added on the west wall towards the back of the school house.

This photo from around 1900 shows the school in the context of Pleasant Valley Road.  Note the narrow, dirt road and post and rail fence across the road from the school house. 

This is a close-up of the school house from the previous photo.  Note the fence, turnstile gate, and flowers bordering the school house lot.  There are several references to efforts to beautify the school grounds with planting of trees and flowers in the early 1900s.  Also, note the window pattern on the east wall that matches the front window pattern.

In 1917 an addition was built that enlarged the school house to the back and east side.  Note also the parked horse drawn "school bus" on the right.

This photo shows the west side of the school house after the addition in 1917. Note the horse shed behind the school and the teeter toters in the play yard.  The play yard is essentially on the site of the early family graveyard of the John Phillips family that dates back to the late 1700s.  Some of the tombstones can still be seen today.

The 1917 addition and the horse shed can be seen in this photo of the horse drawn school bus, driver, and children.  The bus was used primarily to bring students from the Mount Range district of Hunterdon County down Hunter Road to the school in the 1920s.

The school closed in 1935 and in 1938 Franklyn Wooden purchased the building from Hopewell Township and converted it into his family home by removing the front part of the original school house and changing the interior arrangement of spaces.  A fireplace and front porch were also added.

Today the building awaits restoration to its function as a school house that can be used to teach today's children about the school experience of their great-grandparents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The school house is a feature of Howell Farm's annual horse drawn wagon tours of the Pleasant Valley Rural Historic District.  Behind the school house can be seen the buildings erected by Franklyn Wooden as part of his chicken and egg production business. Some of the wood for these buidings came from the old horse shed and the front part of the original school house.