History of
Tyrone School
Dawson, Pennsylvania
Below is a timeline of the History of Tyrone School. A lot of the information provided comes from recorded deeds at the Fayette County Courthouse while other information was provided to the Church in writing from an attorney’s research into the property in 1998 when the building was being donated to the Church.
Ongoing research is taking place to compile a more complete history of the Schoolhouse from 1873-1949 when it was in use as a School.
The School Days at Tyrone School
1873-1949, 1953-1954
1873
The Tyrone School property was originally a part of a larger tract of land owned by Jacob Newcomer. In 1873, there was a conveyance of the larger parcel of land which reserved the “Presbyterian Church lot containing one acre and one hundred and fifty-six perches also school lot taken by the School Directors of Tyrone Township aforesaid containing three fourths of an acre leaving 129 acres and 11 perches.” In 1872 the Tyrone School does not show up on the Tyrone Township Atlas Map.
The School District of Tyrone Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania constructs the Tyrone Schoolhouse.
Tyrone School Teachers 1873-1917
(Exact Years of Service Unknown)
J. M. Luckey
J. C. Hagerman
Miss Martha Gallagher
Mrs. Minnie Hixon
S. Stahl Shallenberger
J. E. Newcomer
1877
Tyrone Township was divided into Upper and Lower Tyrone Townships of Fayette County Pennsylvania.
Circa 1890s
1897
Tyrone School December 1, 1897
1900
J . M. Murtland is the teacher at Tyrone School (Pictured Below).
Circa 1900s
Teacher: James M. Murtland
1908-1910
Miss Nellie Murtland is the teacher at Tyrone School
1914/15
Tyrone Schoolhouse pictured 1914-1915
1916-1917
Miss Edna Torrence is the teacher at Tyrone School
1919-1926
Goldie Orbin is the teacher at Tyrone School
1927
1927 School Students
Teacher: Miss Wiggins
1934-1935
Gale Hemminger is the teacher at Tyrone School
May 1949
1949 School Students
Teacher: Zea Gordan
1949-1950
The last school year that Tyrone School was operated as a one room schoolhouse.
1953-1954
Tyrone School reopened for the first half of the school year as the Frazier School District was transitioning buildings to a more central school.
Tyrone School Closes
May 11th, 1954
The School District of Lower Tyrone Township auctions off the Schoolhouse and property to the highest bidder. James R. Cochran and A. Louise Cochran were the successful bidders purchasing the school and land for $515.00.
September 25th, 1968
Mr. and Mrs. James Cochran sell the Schoolhouse and property to Richard A. Garrity for $2,700.00. On July 18th, 1985, a survey of the property was performed by Joseph R. Weaver a Registered Surveyor. This survey determined that the property contained 0.97 acre of land instead of what was originally conveyed at 0.75 acre.
1976
Vintage Aerial Image Link
Vintage Aerial Image Link
1984
1991
November 11th, 1994
After the untimely passing of Richard Garrity, William Garrity, the executor of Richard’s estate, transfers the property ownership to Timothy M. Garrity for the sum of $1.00.
1995
July 24th, 1995
Timmy Garrity and his wife, Peggy Garrity, sold the Schoolhouse and property to James L. Brown and Beverly A. Brown, his wife. The Brown’s purchased the above-mentioned lot from Timmy Garrity for the sum of $10,000.00.
Tyrone School
Owned by Tyrone Church
July 2nd, 1998
James Brown and his wife, Beverly Brown, donated the Schoolhouse and property to Tyrone United Presbyterian Church, Inc. (NKA Tyrone Presbyterian Church, Inc.) for its continued preservation and restoration, but more importantly to continue on the legacy of this building as a community building where education activities can be carried out through the Church. The Church has been proud to be a part of this Schoolhouse’s history. It also holds sentimental value to us being that a number of our active members, as of July 2, 2023, attended school here as a kid.
Fall 2022
Three new windows were installed on the weather side of the schoolhouse by volunteers from Tyrone Presbyterian Church and the Tyrone Dartball Team led by volunteer contractor Bruno Ansell.
Summer 2023
Fascia, gutters, and downspouts were installed, two of the three windows on the church side were replaced, Arley Rumbaugh painted the oil tank, part of the broken sidewalk was removed and replaced with dirt and grass seed, and Mark Funk Masonry Maintenance cleaned and repointed the weather side of the building.
July 2, 2023
A rededication of the Tyrone Schoolhouse was held to honor the building’s 150th Anniversary and 25th Anniversary of Tyrone Presbyterian Church’s ownership of the building. Pictured below are four Tyrone School Students holding a piece of the original slate chalkboard from their childhood school. Left to Right are Robert “Bob” Sigwalt, Ronald “Doc” Rumbaugh, William “Arley” Rumbaugh, and Margret Jane Burkhart.
November 2nd, 2023 – Present
Tyrone Presbyterian Church joins the Country School Association of America (CSAA) as an organizational member.
Winter 2023-2024/Spring 2024
The Fayette County Chamber of Commerce awarded Tyrone Presbyterian Church a Tourism Grant in the sum of $13,275.00 to cover the remainder of the brick cleaning, restoration, and repointing work that needed performed on the Tyrone School.
Summer 2024
Kirtus Rumbaugh donated his professional electric services to the Tyrone School through electric upgrades to the building including burying the electric supply and a new breaker box.
June 4th, 2024
Davis Monument, Inc. in Scottdale, PA. donated their services of engraving the cornerstone on the Tyrone Schoolhouse to read “TYRONE SCHOOL”.
June 11th, 2024
Aaron Coffman is awarded the Country School Association of America’s Award for Craftsmanship for his work on the restoration of the Tyrone Schoolhouse.
Arley Rumbaugh is awarded the Country School Association of America’s Award for Service for his decades of faithful service to the preservation of the Tyrone Schoolhouse.
Tyrone Presbyterian Church is awarded a Disaster Relief Grant in the sum of $1,000.00 from the Country School Association of America to handle the honeybee infestation in the chimney of the schoolhouse. The Church utilized these funds to replace the existing brick and mortar chimney with a metal chimney which penetrates the roof in the second historical location of the pot belly stove.
November 24th, 2024
Dr. Veronica Ent, President of the Country School Association of America, donated schoolhouse furniture from the 1800s and early 1900s to the Tyrone School. The furniture included a Teacher’s Desk, Teacher’s Chair, a working Reed Organ with its bench, a recitation bench, and a large number of double desks, large single desks, and small single desks. With these donations we will be able to open the Tyrone School as a museum while also continuing to utilize it as a fellowship hall for our Boy Scouts, Men’s Dart ball Team, and other Church Functions.
March 24th, 2025
The brick restoration work on the Tyrone Schoolhouse is complete! This work started in the Summer of 2023 and finished in the Spring of 2025. Mark Funk Masonry Maintenance was the selected contractor for the restoration.
Spring 2025
With the completion of the brick restoration, the second downspout was installed.
June 9th, 2025
Ronald Rumbaugh is awarded the Country School Association of America’s Award for Service for his decades of faithful service to the preservation of the Tyrone Schoolhouse.
Photos
Interior of the Tyrone Schoolhouse Present Day
Actively used by Boy Scout Troop 150 and
Tyrone Presbyterian Church’s Men’s Dartball Team
Interior of the Tyrone Schoolhouse
Set up for the Tyrone School Rededication Event July 2nd, 2023.
(Parts of the Original Slate Chalkboard are shown)
Tyrone Schoolhouse Spring 2022 (Pre-Window Replacement)
Tyrone Schoolhouse Fall 2023 (Brick Restored on ‘Weather’ Side)
Tyrone Schoolhouse photographed October 12, 2024
Tyrone Schoolhouse photographed March 19, 2025
Project Updates
The schoolhouse, being 150+ years old, was experiencing structural cracking, settling, and significant mortar loss which was putting this building at risk. All of these issues have been resolved, but there is still more to do! Our goal for 2025 is to replace the wood siding on the rear of the school. We are still accepting donations to help fund this project as funding is needed to purchase the materials for the siding replacement.
In 2025, we replaced the last of the six windows and wrapped up the masonry restoration.
In 2024, we have had our honeybees extracted from the chimney and got the chimney removed from the schoolhouse. The cornerstone on the building has been engraved donated by Davis Monument “TYRONE SCHOOL”. A new chimney has been installed, and our old metal roof has been replaced. The electric service to the building has also been upgraded and buried.
In 2023, we installed the gutters, downspouts, installed two of the three windows on the church side, painted the oil tank, removed part of the broken sidewalk, and the weather side of the building has been cleaned, bricks restored, and repointed.
In 2022, we installed three new windows on the schoolhouse.
Documents:
September 13, 1998: Tyrone Schoolhouse Dedication
July 2, 2023: Tyrone Schoolhouse Rededication
Tyrone Presbyterian Church 