Rockwood Academy (Ontario)
Rockwood Academy was a private school located at 477 Main Street South, Rockwood, Ontario. It was founded in 1850 by William Wetherald, a Quaker.
Wetherald had previously taught pupils privately in the evenings, and the number of these had grown to an extent that he decided to open a school for older boys and young men. The original curriculum was reasonably standard consisting of English, mathematics, and Latin, but was thorough. Tuition cost C$21 for three months, including room and board. This was not a large amount and allowed young men who were not rich to attend.
Rockwood Academy soon acquired a reputation of being superior and having higher academic standards than the grammar schools of Canada West. In 1864 Wetherald sold the school to Donald McCaig and Alexander McMillan and accepted a position as superintendent of Haverford College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. McCaig left to become principal of Central School in Berlin, Ontario in 1871, but McMillan remained until 1883, when the academy closed. In the 1870s the Ontario government created collegiate institutes, and these institutions were sufficiently efficient that it became hard to run a private school profitably.
The original building was a log building. In 1853 a three-storey stone building with a 2 1⁄2-storey annex was built. There was a 2-acre (8,100 m2) playground as well.
Former students of the school include:
and several others.
After the academy closed, the building remained, but it had fallen into disrepair by 1960, when Josef Drenters purchased it. He spent many years working on the restoration of the old stone building as well as a log barn and chapel on the property, as well as continuing his career as a sculptor. Drenters bequeathed the property to the Ontario Heritage Foundation under the condition that his family would still be able to live in it. The movie Agnes of God was filmed at the building. An Ontario historic plaque is located at the site of the building.
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