Somerville’s School Section #4 Baddow

By Guy Scott

Baddow was one of the first communities settled in Somerville Township and hence had one of the first school sections (1860). The first classes were held in trustee Roderick O’Brien’s house until a log school house was opened in 1868. The school age population quickly increased and in 1878 the school section was split in half and another school section formed for children in east Baddow. The earliest pens were homemade and consisted of cedar twigs with goose feather quill attached. The ink was also made locally: maple bark or beech nuts were boiled and coloured with copperas for blue and red Indian berries for red ink. In 1885 the old log school house burned down (a common occurrence), thus clearing the way for a frame school on Lot 23 on the 2^nd concession, just off Highway #35 on the Baddow Road. This building served the area until 1967 when school amalgamation closed the school section and the remaining students were bussed to Coboconk School. The school then became a community centre and remains in that role to this day.