The Teacherage, Original Building

It was a concept ahead of its time. Sometime in the late 1880’s or early 1890’s the community in Pleasant Valley, east of Payson, AZ, decided to dedicate a small cabin as a home for their teacher. As a concept, it was not necessarily unique. There had long been parsonages built to attract ministers to small communities in rural areas. It was exceptional when it came to teachers. It is true that, by 1910, teacherages were all the rage in rural communities as it relieved local families of the burden of boarding the teachers in their homes and provided an incentive for a better quality of teacher to accept a position. All the same, in 1890, it was truly progressive thinking.

Before teacherages, many teachers taught in a community for only one season. Communities often employed girls as young as 15, if there were no other applicants and if they lived and had been educated locally. By 1880, salaries had increased and ranged from $30 to $60 per month, depending on where in the country a teacher was employed. Out of those earnings, teachers had to pay room and board to parents as they “boarded ‘round" This could consume as much as 30% of their monthly salary or more depending on the demand on local facilities.

Boarding around led to increased frustration on the part of young teachers as they had to endure hardships that endangered their health and well being. It was not infrequent for a young teacher who arrived in a community in sound health to contract tuberculosis or other life threatening illnesses within a short time. Undisciplined children and poor lighting made lesson preparation extremely difficult. Perhaps the most telling on emotions and patience was constantly being under scrutiny and criticism from community members who were privy to the most intimate details of the teacher’s daily life.

Given conditions like those described above it is easy to see why a young man or woman would be attracted to a community offering an amenity like the teacherage we find at Pioneer Village. While not large, it did provide privacy and independence. A bed of your own, a chest of drawers and a private washbasin were coveted luxuries in the pioneer west of 1890. Now it was possible to plan a lesson or read a book without interruption. Small meals could be prepared and eaten in peace. Pictures of loved ones could be displayed on walls or tables without reserve. Finally, the teacherage was usually provided in addition to the regular salary. No longer did one third of a teacher’s monthly wages go back to the community for room and board.

In 1890, just as today, if you wanted good schools, you needed to attract good teachers. The community in Arizona’s Pleasant Valley apparently recognized that before many other rural communities across America. William and Elizabeth Gordon provided the means when they donated the two buildings that comprise the Gordon School and the Teacherage which were moved to Pioneer Living History Museum in 1966. The Gordons’ former home was still being used as a school in the 1930’s.