Grinnell, Iowa, Malcom #6

This school is at the Poweshiek County Fairgrounds in their Heritage Park.  It is on East Street on the SE side of town.  It is Malcom #6, used from 1879 to 1965.  It was moved to Heritage Park on August 15, 1987.  It was originally located on the northwest corner of Old Hwy. 6 and Hwy. 63 in Poweshiek County.

 

Photographed 4/17/10

Volga, IA

I don't remember where we picked up an advertisement for this place - probably Decorah, but we decided to see this quilt and tea shop.  It's about a 2-hour drive from our house through some really pretty country.  We went there on October 24, 2009, expecting to have lunch, only to find it closed for some reason.  We have since tried to get more information, but get no responses to calls or e-mails, so we wonder if something happened to the owners.

This is actually TWO schools.  The stone school is on its original site, and was built in 1868.  The wooden school was moved here from near by.  The stone addition is on the side of the stone school and attaches to the front of the wooden one.  It is located a bit over a mile west of Volga on County Road C2W.  The first close shot is of the stone school, and then the shots will show a walk-around the back to the joining of the school and then end up in front again.  The front door of the stone addition has a lot of etchings, but we got one shot looking through the glass to see the front of the wooden school.

Grant #3, Walker, IA

Another school we saw on 5/1/09 was this one, about two miles west of Walker on Iowa State Highway 920.  It was set back from the road and this angle to be able to shoot the whole building necessitated a telephoto lens.  This school was obviously moved to this property, since it sits behind a house.

Cono Christian School, Walker, IA

Photographed on 5/1/09.   This school is preserved at the Cono Christian School a couple miles north of Walker, IA, on County Road W35.

Butler #1? Unidentified School

As we headed east from Walnut Grove, about 2 miles away F33 turned north, and there was an old school now used as a house.  Run-down as it was, we decided to shoot it.  It is on the NE corner of 290th St and County Road Z16.

Photographed 4/12/09

UPDATE 8/2/17:  This school was demolished by early 2017.

Butler #2, Walnut Grove

On 4/12/09 we took a drive over to Davenport and have lunch at Cracker Barrel.  Afterwards we decided to drive around in that area to see what we could see for fun - up a bit north of town, then east to the Mississippi River, and then back down to Cracker Barrel for late dessert before heading home.  Well, we came across this small community which is now a historical center.  The school is on its original location and is now a museum.  It operated from 1870 to 1967.  Walnut Grove is just over two miles east of US61 on Country Road F33.  The photo shown was taken in 1898.

The following photos were taken on 10/14/16, when we had an inside tour.  Notice the new roof, and the school was also repainted.

Lamoni, IA Welcome Center

April 8, 2009, while on our way home from Oklahoma City, we stopped at the welcome center on Interstate 35, exit 4, near Lamoni.  We found this school, which had just recently been relocated there for preservation.  You can see work was in progress.

3/10/13 update:  Apparently this school was placed on its new foundation not long before we saw it.  On  3/8/13 we stopped here again, and learned that the school is from Lineville, IA, which is at the SE corner of Decatur county (their sign says "Linesville").  It was built in 1909.  Apparently it was restored at its old location and then moved to its current site, because photos of the move show it in its current condition.  There were three photos hanging on the wall, depicting this school in its original state:

Buffalo #1, Burlingham School

Another school the Cedar Rapids Gazette told about, built before 1900.  This one is located south of Prairieburg, IA on the NW corner of Prairieburg Road and Wapsie Banks Road.  The original school was built by 1869, but burned in 1925.  This building was a church 1/2 mile away, and was moved to the location of the burnt school in order to replace it.  A basement was dug prior to the placement of the building.  The school closed ca. 1950.   It is now fixed up and rented out as a special "cottage" for things like newlyweds, anniversary get-aways, etc.

Photographed 3/5/09

Bennington Township #5, Cedar Falls, IA

Another of those schools we had previously seen was this one in Cedar Falls.  It was built in 1909 northeast of town in Bennington Township.  It was moved to its present location as a museum.  We visited the site on a nice day the first of March 2009, but it wasn't open until May.  So we just took the photos.

West Liberty, IA

On 2/22/09 we continued on a scenic day trip.  Since I was scheduled to do a gig on St. Patrick's Day in West Liberty, we decided to scout that town on the way home so as to know where to go for the gig.  On the west side of town they were making a museum out of the old railroad depot, and they had moved a school from someplace fairly close and put it on a foundation as part of their museum.  It had recently been placed there and a lot of work was still being done.

UPDATE 8/15/15:  Coming through West Liberty today we decided to return to see if they had information about this school.  There has been lots of work since we were here last, with historical buildings, etc moved to the site to make a nice park.  Here are photos from today, including a shot of the sign explaining about the school.

Washington, IA

This is another school we learned about from the Cedar Rapids Gazette.  The 12/14/08 issue had a half-page article about this school, with some accompanying photos.  The school was called "Red Brick School," and was one of only about a dozen brick schools in Iowa.  The article was about a man who was writing a book about his memories in Washington, including his attendance at the school.  This school is being restored.  We went to see the school on 2/22/09.  The school is two miles south of town at the NW corner of County route W55 and Cappock Road.

UPDATE:  Yesterday, 10/31/10, we passed by this school and took a few photos.  Here are two of them.

Marshalltown, IA

On our way to Newton from Marshalltown one day in September 2008, we found this school about 1.5 miles south of US30 on Iowa State Route 14, at the NW corner of 255th St.  It is difficult to make out the words on the sign above the door, but it says, "Spring Valley School."  It is Spring Valley Number 4.

Davenport, IA

Here is a school we have seen a few times but thought it was a replica.  We found out it wasn't, that it was moved to its present location from the 4900 block in Davenport on the west side of Brady St, and fixed up as a museum.  This school is at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, where we go for the annual Highland Games.  We took this photo in August 2008 at the end of the games when the sun was on it.  The school is from District No. 9 and was built in 1877.

The following photo was posted on "The Forgotten Iowa Historical Society" Facebook page, and was taken in the early 1960s at its original site.