The Old Port Colden Schoolhouse was built in 1869 on the banks of the Morris Canal. The stone set over the door is dated 1869, a time when the canal was at its busiest.

The bricks to build it were made in a nearby brickyard and much of the labor was donated by the local people. Counting the cost of the land, it cost a total of approximately $4500 to build. It was typical of the kind of building that began to replace the one-room schoolhouses at that time. The front door opened into a small hall with a coatroom on the right and a steep winding staircase on the left. Then there was one large classroom behind the hall used for grades one, two, three and four. The second floor was the same for grades five, six, seven and eight.

There were two outhouses out behind the schoolhouse with a large fence between them. One was for the boys and the other for the girls. The source of water in the schoolhouse was a cistern in the basement that collected roof water. It was hand pumped into a container in the coatroom on the first floor. Buckets of water were hauled upstairs for use in the second floor classroom. Heat was provided by wood and coal stoves. Boys would be assigned the chore of bringing up coal from the basement.

Before 1893, when the church was built next door, services were held in the schoolhouse. The bell was donated

by the church. After 1931, when the new Washington Consolidated School was built, the old schoolhouse was used for a courthouse, police station and then a storage building.

Throughout the many changes most of the building has been left intact as it originally was. It has now been placed on the National and State Registry as an historic building and the Washington Township Board of Education has been acquiring grants to slowly restore it. So far the slate roof has been replaced and the belfry and soffetting restored. Soon work will begin on finishing restoration of the rest of the outside.