Pony School

Hands-On Learning Rooted in History

Pony School offers educational programs and interpretive experiences designed to bring the history of the Pony Express to life for students and learners of all ages. Through guided activities and engaging storytelling, participants gain a deeper understanding of this important chapter in American history.

Established in 2011, this replica 1860s Pony School is located on the grounds of the Pony Express National Museum. It is open by appointment for tours and interpretive programs, transporting students back to the 1860s. Tour groups can book a School Marm and learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, or engage in a spelling bee! For a memorable educational experience we invite you to bring your students to the Pony School.

The One-Room School House 

For nearly 250 years the country school was the backbone of American education. These simple buildings often served as school, chapel, town hall and community center. 

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One-room schoolhouses were the most common type of schools in the Midwest from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. As the name implies, a one-room schoolhouse is a school with only one classroom in which one teacher taught many students of differing ages and grade levels. Older students helped younger ones with their work and carried out classroom chores for the teacher. 

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The schoolhouse was usually the first public building to be constructed in pioneer or rural towns. The building was also used for other public functions, such as social events, political meetings and church services. 

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Students would often have the same teacher from first grade until age 16; the children of an entire community growing up together in one room. 

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Dedicated in 2011, the Pony School is an authentic reproduction of a 1860s period one-room schoolhouse.  It has a cupola for the bell and tall custom built; double hung wooden windows with 19th century restoration glass that provide excellent lighting. Inside are handmade desks, each supplied with slates and chalk, as well as McGuffey readers and primers. Pine floorboards, beadboard paneling, slate chalkboards, a raised platform for the school marm’s desk and a potbelly stove replicate the frontier-era furnishings. 

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Funding for the Pony School was provided by a grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution, private donors, and the Pennies for the Pony School drive in which school children donated coins to build the school. Hillyard Technical School students assisted with construction.