A much traveled school!

Posted on Friday, 7th March 2025 by Janine Rizzetti

This is Ivanhoe State School Number 2436 on the site of the Ivanhoe Post Office today. It was built there in 1881, but by 1924 the school had moved to its present red-brick buildings in Waterdale Road.

So what to do with the ‘old’ school? It was decided to remove it by horse-drawn dray to Haig Street, Heidelberg West where it became Heidelberg West State School in 1925.

The good people of Heidelberg West were not too impressed with the idea of a “second-hand” school, but the four-roomed school was bigger and probably better equipped than the two-room Macleod State School that was erected the following year.

The ex-Ivanhoe rooms continued to be used at Haig Street until the 1960s, when they were finally demolished.

You can learn about the history of local schools at our ‘Back to School’ exhibition, currently showing at the Old Heidelberg Court House, Jika Street Heidelberg open every Sunday between 2.00 and 5.00 p.m. until 11 May 2025. Entry $5.00, children under 16 and members free.