The South Stone School House on Isle La Motte

Isle La Motte embraces a historical relic - the South Stone School House at 24 Quarry Road. Constructed in 1843, this institution served the town as a district school until 1932. Over the years, it has been the home of the local historical society. Constructed from locally quarried limestone known as black marble, the schoolhouse features rough-cut and ashlar rectangular blocks with irregular gaps filled by smaller stones in a technique associated with Scottish masonry.

The building is credited as one of at least six surviving masterpieces by James Ritchie, a locally prominent master mason who came from Scotland. In 1997, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure features a gabled roof framed with wooden timbers and a wide stone chimney rising from one of the long sides, just to the left of the doorway.

Its interior, finished with pine wainscoting and plaster, now houses displays of materials concerning the long history of the island. Located at the southeast corner of Main Street and Quarry Road, the South Stone School House remains a site where the town's history is preserved.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons