Examination of state school governance structures in the late 19th century reveals three regional models, each springing from particular patterns of settlement and political administration. Historical explanations for school system origins have drawn mainly on the histories of northeastern cities and states. They have underemphasized regional divergences from the northeastern pattern. Data from the 1880 federal reports on education are used for 47 states, grouped into 5 regions, to determine whether state and local educational officials were elected or appointed. Three regional patterns of governance are identified. In the Northeast, state officials were appointed and local officials elected; in the South, state officials were elected and local officials appointed; and in the Midwest, both state and local officials were elected. Historical patterns of settlement--based on towns in the Northeast, counties in the South, and townships in the Midwest--account for much of the regional difference in political administration and school governance. Further theoretical interpretation suggests that election and appointment are based both on the level of political government just above the "unit" of social habitation and on the unit's "sociological indifference" to particular levels of government. (RW)