Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center

One of six Nature Centers of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center opened in 1955, and has educated and delighted generations of families in Cook County.

Connect with the historic past of the Palos Hills at The Little Red Schoolhouse. In 1886 the present building, originally located on the Black Oak Trail at old 99th Street, replaced a log cabin school. Now hikers enjoy country lanes once used by its student. In 1932 the school house was moved to Camp Kiwanis by a local resident, using only one mule and log rollers. Classes continued there until 1948. In 1952 it was moved to its present site, and in 1955 reopened as a unique, new kind of school. In place of the three R’s, fascinating stories are told to children and grown-ups who visit here, stories about forest preserve plants and animals and the earth of which they live.