Nearly a century after the New Jersey State Legislature formed Upper, Middle and Lower Townships, the Fishing Creek School
was constructed in 1888 on land that was donated from the Matthews family farm. Many of those who aided in the construction
of the one room schoolhouse were veterans of the Civil War. The Fishing Creek School served as the only school in the area
until 1921 when some students were sent to the Cold Spring Academy.
In the 1920s, there were
as many as eight one room school houses in the lower Cape May region. With the advent of motorized school buses, the one-room
school houses became obsolete, and schools were "consolidated" into buildings with multiple classrooms.
In
1926, the Fishing Creek School was sold at public auction and subsequently purchased by the Leckey family as a summer home.
The School was placed on the National and State Historic Registers in 1980, and the Leckey family
sought to ensure that the school be spared demolition.
In 1998, members of the community
began efforts to save the Fishing Creek School, and in 2002, the school was puchased by the State Green Acres Program, and
subsequently leased to Lower Township for 20 years.
Recently, Mayor Mike Beck organized a
non-profit organization, The Friends of the Fishing Creek School, to lead the effort to restore and maintain the site for
the benefit of the community.
The Fishing Creek School is the only remaining one room school house
in Lower Township, NJ.
