Side A: The first school in what is now Pataskala was a “subscription school” operated by Amariah Cubberly on the nearby banks of the South Fork of the Licking River in the 1820s. Subscription schools, which charged fees, were the forerunners of rural public schools in many parts of Ohio. By the 1830s several one-room public schools served the children of the area, but in 1870 the civic minded citizens of Pataskala provided a centralized building for grades one through twelve on Main Street, where the old Town Hall now stands. This school was moved to the new building on this site in 1908. When the Southwest Licking Local School District was established in 1953, Pataskala Elementary School continued in the building. Additions in 1968 and 2000 enhanced its educational capabilities. This 1908 Queen Anne architectural style building was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1983.