Originally built in Jordan Canyon, on the Mogollon Rim, approximately 30 miles east of Payson, Arizona, the Gordon School was originally built as the home of William Gordan and his family and was later converted to be used for educational purposes after the family moved to Grapevine, Arizona.

Used to provide an education to the citizens of the area from approximately 1885 through 1930, the original school records were lost when Gila County split off from Yavapi County. Original school records were lost at that time, making it impossible to determine an exact date of construction. From March to November, classes were in session, and no classes were held in the winter months.

Relocating the school buildings to where they currently reside at the Pioneer Living History Museum in Northern Phoenix was not a simple feat. Twenty, nine-foot logs were moved over 150 miles using a tank-retrieving, 40-foot, lowboy rig to haul the logs from the Christopher Creek area, only after enrollees from the Neighborhood Youth Corps camped out and marked each log and coded every nail hole and strip of chinking.

The replacement logs were hewed using traditional adzes, an obsolete axe-like tool used to hand hew logs, only after a three-month search was conducted nationwide which resulted in 7 adzes being acquired. Featuring square-notch corners, the schoolhouse became the first completely restored historical building at Pioneer Arizona. =[]]