Thorington School has been in the news as of late for a good reason. The Washington Township Board of Trustees bought the property back in March, and they plan on moving it to a different spot along 31 Mile Road to make it a focal point for a park. On top of that, Romeo High School students led by trades teacher Craig Bryant are going to work on constructing and restoring pieces of the schoolhouse using materials donated by local companies.
Although little is actually known about its building origins, what we do know comes from Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli's book A History of the Romeo Community School District 1824-1976. In it, she says that the school had been in existence since the 1840s. The land, in which it stood, was owned by James Thorington as part of his 158-acre farm. Thorington was a Vermont native who came to Michigan in the early 1800s. By 1819, he was living in Macomb County. In his later years, he retired to Romeo where he purchased a home at 117 Bradley Street. His son James M. Thorington took over the farm, "continuing to lease the school property" (p. 129).
The schoolhouse as we know it was erected in the 1860s according to a design suggested by the State Superintendent's Office.
As part of her research for the book, Buzzelli took the photo you see here in 1975. The Thorington Schoolhouse appears to be in fairly good condition surrounded by bushes. After it consolidated in 1955, the building was used as the Lake Cusic Grange Hall for over a decade. What's also interesting is that there's a spire on top of the bell tower. That's absent in pictures of the school taken in the last 35 years. We can only assume that it went missing sometime after 1975.
Buzzelli also took pictures of other schools in the Romeo-Washington-Bruce area and used old school records as part of her research. Along with the photo seen above, these can be found in the Romeo Community Schools Administrative Center Collection housed at the Romeo Community Archives.
To see more photos and documents from the Romeo Community Schools Administrative Center Collection, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Community Schools Administrative Center Collection, 1975; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, June 30, 1955, p.I-5 and August 7, 1991, p.1-B; and The Record, March 19-25, 2025, p.1 and p.4