Tantie School House #14

North of Lake Okeechobee in the region known as The Bend, the first school was a thatched-roof structure built around 1897. Homesteader Peter Raulerson and his family lacked enough children old enough to support a school, so five students were brought in from nearby Platt’s Bluff, and the children and first teacher, Dr. George M. Hubbard, boarded with the Raulersons. In 1902, the area was renamed Tantie in honor of local schoolteacher Tantie Huckabee. In 1909, Peter’s son Lewis built a new one-room white frame schoolhouse on the west side of Parrott Avenue for $500. The St. Lucie County School Board designated it School #14, and Hubbard became the first teacher of its 36 students. As population grew, a one-room addition was built in 1914, and a second addition followed in 1915, but by fall the school was so crowded that a tent was set up for overflow. Construction of the Okeechobee Public School began in 1916, and classes moved to the new building. After the Okeechobee Historical Society purchased School #14, it was relocated to this site in 1976 and restored for use as a museum.

Florida · United States