The School House opened in 1867, replacing a nearby one-room school. Known then as the Douglas Union School and part of Michigan’s new public school consolidation movement, it offered classes at all grades and pioneered free high school education. The building also served as a principal place for village activities and was designed to be the most impressive building in the village. It is the oldest remaining union school building in Michigan and ceased to be a school in 1957. The structure stands as one of Michigan’s finest examples of Civil War era school architecture and, along with new gardens, was restored by the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society from 2006 to 2012 as a place for the study, presentation, exhibition, and preservation of Saugatuck and Douglas area history.