Admaston Township
S.S. No. 2 Admaston
The tiny community of Admaston has supported this school since the 1850s. George Brown, first superintendent of schools in Renfrew County, urged residents to get an education or they would remain ‘Hewers of wood and stone, and carriers of water’. In 1876, the present brick building was erected, preceding two log structures. When the township schools amalgamated under the Renfrew County School Board in 1966, the Balsam Hill Women’s Institute bought S.S. No. 2 Admaston for $100 and it became a community centre. As a millennium project, the building was renovated by the community in 2000 and is now a living museum where Grade 3 students can go back in history to experience a day at school in the 1890s.
S.S. No. 6 Admaston - Northcote School
404 Northcote Rink Rd., Admaston
The Northcote School can be found by driving west of Renfrew along Hwy 60 to 404 Northcote Rink Road. The first school on the Plaunt farm was a log structure in the 1850s, replaced in 1877 with a more modern building made of tongue and grooved lumber painted white with three-cornered battens costing $600. As many as 80 children were enrolled. In the 1880s the government gave a grant of $30 a year to help finance the teacher’s salary (up to $265 a year). In 1927, the present school was built with government grants and local taxes. It closed in 1966 with the opening of a new regional school in Admaston and is now a community center with an out-door rink.
