September 4th of 1885 was a very proud day for the Village of Romeo and its surrounding school district. It was on that day that ceremonies were held dedicating the ‘new modern high school’.
In 1927 an addition was needed to house the many students attending the high school, seen in the news article below and a new more modern building was added and connected to the original victorian building from 1885. In the corner stone of the 1927 addition was placed a time capsule. By 1966, the original portion of the school, was in need of replacement, and the demolition soon started and the victorian building was torn down.
As time progressed, a new high school was built on 32 Mile Road and the now ‘old school’ was to become the middle school for the Romeo area. With the building of the new high school in 2019 on Powell Road in Washington, and the moving of the middle school into the now ‘old high school’ on 32 Mile, the 1927 school on Prospect Street was slated for complete destruction for a green space. But as fate would have it, the time capsule from the corner stone was found by one of the contractors, and opening it became a treasure for all those interested in history. The box was found to contain mostly documents, in pristine condition. The Romeo Community Schools Superintendent decided to donate the contents of the time capsule to the Romeo Community Archives at the Kezar Library. A copy of one of the oldest documents is shown below along with the man known to have signed the document.
Asahel Bailey arrived in Indian Village in January 1821. In July of that same year, he purchased 80 acres of government land on 26 Mile Road at Van Dyke. Bailey settled in Romeo early on. In 1858, he built his Greek Revival residence at 343 South Main Street (Van Dyke Road); this was his third home in the area. Years later the home was used as a parsonage for St Clements and as the Pontiac Nursery office. Bailey’s former home was moved and became a private home after it was moved to the Sisson Street area. Below, Asahel Bailey in his younger years.
It was known that Asahel was a pattern farmer of the settlement. HIs fields were always cleaned and finely cultivated, and everything in good repair. This might have been why the settlement asked him to be in charge of the schooling that was needed to educate the young students of the area. With the opening of the time capsule, the oldest article in the box, was the hand written application signed by Asahel Bailey quantifying a young lady to teach the settlement students on May 16, 1839.
This document and many others are available to be seen at the Community Archives. And for further information you can follow the Romeo Community Archives at the Kezar Library at https://romeocommunityarchives.blogspot.com.
A big thank you to Julie at the archives for allowing me access to the material to use in the blog today.
Linda Osborne Cynowa 