Lodi's one-room school moved seven miles and teaches again
The 1867 Weber-Blaess schoolhouse left its Lodi Township farm site in 2002 and became a living-history classroom on the Saline school campus.
The Weber-Blaess schoolhouse was built on Ellsworth Road in Lodi Township in 1867. Its builders reused the stone foundation of an earlier log school that had burned the year before. The little wooden building was first called Downer School and later took the Blaess name from a farm family whose members helped run it.
After its school days ended, the building became storage for farm equipment. The Weidmayer family eventually donated it to Saline Area Schools. On June 19, 2002, crews moved the school seven miles to district property. The first mile alone took four hours.
Restoration kept the original oak floors and beadboard walls while adding the utilities and accessible spaces needed for modern use. The school now operates as a living-history museum. Saline students can spend a day learning as children did between 1890 and 1950.
The building no longer stands in Lodi, but its next chapter still teaches the township’s story. Saving it took more than putting up a plaque. The whole classroom went down the road.
Where to see it
The school now stands off Woodland Drive on Saline Area Schools property. Arrange access through the district rather than assuming walk-in hours.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 12, 2026.