Vienna Special School
(Vienna Center)

After the removal of Vienna School Number 1, a one-room schoolhouse at the northeast corner of the center, this left Vienna Village (the term used for Vienna Center) without a schoolhouse. For those students living in Vienna Village, the nearest school was either Vienna School Number 7 at Murray's Corners, about two miles west, or Vienna School Number 8, about one and a half miles north. 

By 1872, a two-story school was erected between the Vienna Academy and the Presbyterian Church on the Vienna Township Green. It was referred to as the Vienna Special School. The school was a sub-district of the Vienna Township Rural School District.

1874 Vienna Center MapThe location of the school is on the northwest corner of the center, directly west of the Presbyterian Church labeled "Town Hall."
This tintype (a photograph on metal) was taken at the Vienna Township Green between 1885 and 1910 (based on the clothing styles). 
 Buildings from left to right: Vienna Methodist Church, Vienna Academy, Vienna Special School, Vienna Presbyterian Church.
The schoolchildren and schoolteachers depicted here were likely the body of the Vienna Special School.
The Vienna Special School building later served as the meeting place for the Vienna Grange and was later purchased by the Copper Penny Masonic Lodge. The building is currently occupied by the Vienna Historical Society.
Vienna Special School Souvenir Program1897-1898 school yearNellie Andrews, teacherFrom the Society's collection.Donated by Dave Cover.
Vienna Special School Souvenir Program1897-1898 school year class rollNellie Andrews, teacherFrom the Society's collection.Donated by Dave Cover.

Teachers and Administrators

Nellie Andrews served as teacher during the 1897-1898 school year. Directors were I. N. Worley, D. W. Garrard, and Frank Rogers.

Vienna Special School Photograph, date unknown.Ithel Mathews, teacherFrom the Society's collection.Donated by Donald Scott.

The structure was used as a schoolhouse until 1915 when Vienna Township schools were centralized. Thereafter the building was used for town meetings until 1938 when the Vienna Grange purchased it. The building later served as the Copper Penny Masonic Lodge until the group disbanded in 2023. The building currently houses the Vienna Historical Society.

Updated 6/19/2023
This article is adapted from Fred L. Martin and Genie Ulp, "Vienna Township Schools, Then and Now," in Vienna, Ohio, "Where We Live and Let Live": Town 4, Range 2, of the Connecticut Western Reserve (Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 1999), pp. 161-163.
Additional research by Christine Novicky in June 2023.