Just like the Little Black Dress, Palm Beach’s Little Red Schoolhouse has defied style trends and stood the test of time to add a little class to a local park.
Last month three Commercial New Construction permits were pulled, laying the groundwork for what WPTV has referred to in a recent broadcast as a momentous project that promises new upgrades to Phipps Ocean Park. The permits were part of a $33 million park renovation that includes relocating and renovating the site’s iconic Little Red Schoolhouse elsewhere in the park to protect it from wind and frequent flooding.
Historical building’s 139-year backstory
The modest little building has been blessed with benefactors since the seed of its conception in 1886. The 22’x40’ one-room structure was built thanks to a grant of $200 from the county to cover the cost of lumber. Area laborers donated their time to construct the project. Another $200, raised by the Ladies Aid Society by selling quilts and other embroidery, was used to purchase furniture and supplies. The building was used as a schoolhouse until 1901, when a new four-room school opened at Clematis Street and Poinsettia Avenue in what is now downtown West Palm.
The Little Red Schoolhouse was moved to the Palm Beach estate of John Phipps, where it spent the next forty years as a potting shed. In 1960, the estate was razed, the Phipps family donated land to the city of Palm Beach to build Phipps Ocean Park, and the schoolhouse was dismantled and moved there. In 1990, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach restored it to its original glory as a one-room schoolhouse, and thus it has remained ever since.
Momentuous project includes native landscaping & garden
Soon, as you wend your way through the blossoming park, you may see nine-year-olds sporting Nikes backpacks entering an authentic 1886 classroom at the Little Red Schoolhouse, just as their ancestors did. It’s all part of The Preservation Foundation’s free “living history program,” in which fourth-grade students from all over Palm Beach, Broward, and Martin Counties get to experience a day in the life of the students who originally attended school at the historic building. Students recite stories from McGuffey’s Readers, learn Spencerian script, hold a spelling bee, and learn classic recess games, providing children with a fully immersive experience of life at the turn of the 20th century.
The Preservation Foundation received a $442,195 Special Category Historic Preservation Grant to help underwrite the cost of renovating and relocating the schoolhouse, which is part of the overall improvement plan for Phipps Ocean Park. The project to move and renovate the historic building is expected to take six months, and involves moving the schoolhouse to a higher elevation near the base of a 22-foot dune to protect it from wind damage and flooding, as well as restoring the windows and doors, adding a new roof, trim and siding repairs, new mechanical and electrical systems, interior restoration, and making the building more accessible.
The Little Red Schoolhouse will be a major focal point for the transformation of Phipps Ocean Park, anchoring the Great Lawn and wildflower garden to the west. Park renovations also include an outdoor classroom north of the schoolhouse, as well as a nursery for native plants that will help support healthy beach ecosystems both inside the park and all over the island.
Construction on park renovations is scheduled to begin in June, with expected completion in August for a fall 2025 opening.
Parks in Palm Beach
- Phipps Ocean Park is just one of three Palm Beach Island Parks, and features a tennis center, cabanas, picnic tables, ocean views, a boardwalk and restrooms. Located at 2201 S. Ocean Blvd, the park is open from 8 am to 6:30 pm Monday through Friday.
- R.G. Kreusler Memorial Park, located at 2882 S. Ocean Blvd., is a county park offering beach frontage, a 450-foot guarded swimming area, saltwater fishing, as well as restroom and shower facilities. It is open from sunrise to sunset.
- Bradley Park, located at 343 Royal Poinciana Way, is a private park with a beautifully landscaped greenspace and the icon 86-year-old Artemis Fountain. The park is open from 7 am to 8 pm seven days a week.
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