This one-room rural schoolhouse, originally called the Cowichan Public School, is valued for its representation of the early development of the Cowichan Valley.

The schoolhouse is a notable representation of a significant stage in the development of the Cowichan Valley. As the oldest remaining school in the area, it illustrates the introduction of what were considered ‘luxury’ services to the Cowichan Valley. At the time this school was built, the community of Cowichan Station was only just beginning to develop.

Built in 1885, the schoolhouse is reported to be the oldest wood framed building north of the Malahat. As most of the original settler buildings have been torn down, the schoolhouse, at 140 years old, has great significance to Vancouver Island. The schoolhouse marks the beginning of development in the northern island area, from the Cowichan Valley to Port Hardy.

The schoolhouse was built on James Mearns’ farm, the first homestead in the Cowichan Station area. Mearns had arrived in the Cowichan Valley in 1862 aboard the H.M.S Hecate, with the first 100 immigrant settlers of the Cowichan Valley.

After 11 years operating as a schoolhouse, The Cowichan Public School was closed in 1896 and the following year the property became Pemberlea Farm and the schoolhouse became the farm manager’s home.

The Fairbridge Society bought the property the schoolhouse was located on in 1935 and the schoolhouse continued to be used as the farm manger’s home.  In 1937 it became the home for the farm herdsman.

After the Fairbridge Farm School closed in 1952, the schoolhouse was used as housing for British immigrant families by the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Department of Immigration and Colonization during the 1950s.

In 1977 the building was acquired by the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) and moved from its original location near Koksilah Road to its present site adjacent the Fairbridge Chapel. 

On May 27^th, 1981 it was officially recognized as a heritage structure by the local and provincial governments, and in 1988 the CVRD gave the schoolhouse to the Fairbridge Chapel Heritage Society which has continued to maintain it to this day.