Attending class in the very first schools in Stark County was much different from going to school today. Students wrote with goose quill pens, and used ink made from the bark of walnut trees. Sometimes school was open only three or four months of the year.
Marlboro, Lexington, and Washington Townships all had schools before 1820. The school established in 1809, and supported by the Quakers in the village of Lexington, was probably the first school in Stark County. The first classes taught within the present city limits of Alliance were held in a cabin on land owned by Clement Rockhill near what is now the west end of Wayne Street. Eight years later, in 1828, a schoolhouse was built in Williamsport.
In 1838 a one room brick school was erected in the village of Freedom at the north end of First Street. This structure, now a house, is the oldest remaining school building in Alliance.
By 1857 there were too many children attending classes to all fit in the one room building, so a two story, six room school was built on the southeast corner of what are now North Park and Washington Streets. It was called the Alliance Union School, and was the first public school built in what later became the city of Alliance.
By the turn of the century the city had grown considerably in size, and an attempt was made to construct a grade school in each ward. Today Alliance can be proud of its school system which serves more than 6,000 students. The newest building, the Alliance High School, is one of the most modern and attractively furnished schools in the state.