The South Salem Academy is a historic former school in South Salem,

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. Built in 1842, it is a stone building constructed in the

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

of architecture.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 1223-1224. Throughout nineteenth-century Ohio, churches played a major part in founding educational institutions. Because no upper-level schools were present in southwestern Ross County in 1842, a local

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister, Hugh Stewart Fullerton, called a meeting to remedy the situation. Both the members of his congregation and the remaining local residents responded heartily to his proposal; by the end of the year, the present structure had been constructed. It is a two-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

rectangular building of cut limestone, five

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wide on the front and ornamented with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

in the middle of the roof.,

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2007. Accessed 2010-09-02. The Salem Academy's first classes began meeting in 1842, following the classical model of education. Students were able to enroll in preparatory and

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departments; included in the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

were courses on

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, various

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s, and

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, all of which were taught from a Christian perspective. As the years passed, the village of South Salem grew up around the school, having been

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1846 primarily to serve the needs of the school's students and teachers.Evans, Lyle S.
A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development
'. Vol. 1.

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

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: Lewis, 1917, 472-474. After the academy came under the supervision of the Chillicothe Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in 1859, students pursued a two-year course of instruction and, upon graduation, departed for other schools.Marker #4-71: Salem Academy
Ohio Channel and the

, 2006. Accessed 2010-09-02. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the school declined. Many students left to fight in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in the 1860s, and rising numbers of high schools elsewhere in the area reduced the demand for a school in South Salem. After the academy's doors closed in 1922, the building was sold to the Buckskin Township Board of Education. Among its 1,500 alumni was

Joseph B. Foraker Joseph Benson Foraker (July 5, 1846 – May 10, 1917) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 37th governor of Ohio from 1886 to 1890 and as a United States senator from Ohio from 1897 until 1909. Foraker was ...

, a future

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. The academy was expanded in 1903. When its original four rooms — two per floor — became too small for the school, two

concrete block A concrete block, also known as a cinder block in North American English, breeze block in British English, or concrete masonry unit (CMU), or by various other terms, is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. The u ...

wings were added to the building. Despite this modification, it was designated a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

in 1979, being added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It qualified for inclusion on the Register both because of its well-preserved historic architecture and because of its leading place in local history.

References

{{authority control School buildings completed in 1842 Educational institutions disestablished in 1922 Community centers in Ohio Defunct schools in Ohio Educational institutions established in 1842 Federal architecture in Ohio Limestone buildings in the United States School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Presbyterian schools in the United States Buildings and structures in Ross County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Ross County, Ohio 1922 disestablishments in Ohio 1842 establishments in Ohio Christian schools in Ohio