Norwood School District No.1 was organized in 1867, one year before Orwin and Eliza P. Adams and Orvis D. Wood platted the village. Thirty-five children first attended lessons in a log building, and in 1869 a frame schoolhouse was built on land donated by the Adams family. That schoolhouse burned on March 26, 1890, and was replaced that summer with the present building. Students were taught in a group recitation format until 1918, when eight grades were established under state education reforms. From 1867 until 1957, Norwood School enrolled between twenty and seventy students each year. In 1957, when enrollment had fallen to twelve students, residents voted eighteen to fourteen to annex the district to the Charlevoix School District. Norwood Methodist Church then bought the building for use as a fellowship hall, and in 2004 the Norwood Area Historical Society purchased and renovated it for use as a museum, community meeting hall, and society headquarters.