The Charter Oak Schoolhouse is a historic octagonal school building in Schuline, Illinois, located on the Evansville/Schuline Road between Schuline and Walsh. Built in 1873, it served as a public primary school until 1953. The school was one of 53 octagonal schoolhouses built in the United States, of which only three survive. The building is now used as a museum by the Randolph County Historical Society and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.ArchitectureThe one-room schoolhouse is a one-story building with an octagonal plan. The building's foundation is made of locally quarried limestone, while the building's walls were built with red brick. A louvered belfry, which may not have been added until 1883, tops the building's low-sloping roof. Courses of corbelled brick along the roof line form the building's cornice. The vestibule at the school's entrance is sided with clapboard and rests on a concrete foundation. 53 octagonal schoolhouses were built in the United States, of which the school was the only one built in Illinois. The school is one of three of these octagonal schoolhouses which is still standing.
