A tall oak grew in the yard of Lord School, built on the northeast corner of Sterns and Crabb Roads in 1853. Julius Sterns unfurled a United States banner from the tree in 1863 to prove his patriotism and hatred of slavery. Frank Ludwig, a noted Toledo architect, designed the brick Banner Oak School on the southeast corner in 1871. The building housed all 8 grades until 1930, when the four lower grades moved into a portable classroom. In 1947, Banner Oak became the last rural school to consolidate with Bedford Public Schools, and the last classes used the building in 1955.