Tax records first name the Oldest Wooden School House in 1716, and here it is at 14 St. George Street near the city gate. Touted as the oldest wooden school building in the United States, this humble timber structure first appears on tax records in 1716 - though its exact construction date is unknown. No wooden buildings still standing in St. Augustine predate 1702, when the British burned the city, and the actually oldest surviving schoolhouse in the nation is the Voorlezer's House in Staten Island, built prior to 1696.
Look closely: the walls are made of bald cypress and red cedar, joined with wooden pins and iron spikes. Around the building you’ll see the large chain placed in 1937 to help anchor it to the ground in case of a hurricane. The classroom below once had the schoolmaster and his family living above on the second floor, while the kitchen stood in a separate building to reduce heat and the threat of fire.
From 1788 this classroom was among the first in the United States to teach both boys and girls. The lot originally belonged to Juan Genoply; recent maintenance has replaced the roofing and made other fixes. Picture the schoolmaster's family living upstairs while lessons continued below, protected since 1937 by that heavy anchor chain.