This brick school is located at 1220 NW 78th Ave. on the south side of Ankeny. The easiest way to locate it is to start at the intersection of Oralabor and Irvingdale Drive. Cross Oralabor southbound to the first left turn, which is 78th, and acts as a frontage road for Oralabor. The school will be about 100’ east of the intersection, on the south side. It is used as an office by Warren Transport.
Photographed 8/13/12
UPDATE: On 12/22/23 I learned from a Facebook post that this school and the property on which it stands is for sale. Photos were posted showing more recent surroundings and how much vandalism had been done to it. I'm not going to post photos of the inside--it's just ransacked after the business left--but I did get permission from the two photographers to post their photos on this blog.
These first three photos were taken by Mary Mix, "taken about a year ago":
14 comments:
This is Nagel school. It was attended by my big sister and two brothers. I was too young, but went there to play at recess time and to deliver lunches to my siblings in the early 1950s.
Thank you. I will update the name.
I drove by today (2/16/21) and noticed that there is now a FOR SALE sign at the front of the property...I am in hopes that the new owner realizes the historical value of the old one-room schoolhouse and does not simply demolish the building for new development. C J
Maybe we'll get lucky and the new owner will restore it as a school!
The correct spelling is Nagle. This school is named after my maternal family line and my grandpa, great aunts, and great uncles attended the school.
Thank you for that correction. We just used what was given by the first commenter -- we had it as "Unknown."
The commissioner for urban land development in Ankeny is hoping to move the school to preserve the history, but with no city funds to move it, he's doing the best he can to find private funds. My uncle, a Nagle, is working to help preserve it as well and is enlisting the help of our family to find more information on the history of it.
I am a direct descendant I have spoken with the director of economic development in Ankeny and he is trying to save the building and have it moved to land that the city owns or into up town Ankeny if you are truly interested in saving this piece of history please consider contacting him and give input on anything you want to do thanks my dad attended the school when he was young and everything I know was passed down from him
Would be so neat to see it restored into a coffee shop with an old schoolhouse deco inspriation. That location would flourish with a coffee shop there.
Hi everyone! My name is Megan Schmelzer, and I have been a teacher for the last 11 years. I opened my own tutoring company called The Little White Schoolhouse in Ankeny this fall. I have been praying for a way to save this building and restore it back into the schoolhouse it was. I want to bring learning back into this beautiful building. If anyone knows the contacts on how I can get in touch with the owners or the family, I would love to know it!
If you have any contact information, I would love to know it. My name is Megan Schmelzer, and I own a new tutoring company called The Little White Schoolhouse. I have been researching this building, and I would love to find a way to restore it and turn it back into a school for all our students.
If this bldg is older than the mid 1900's, maybe a prior telegraph or post office, it may be eligible for Federal funds to preserve historical bldg. Maybe used to be a train station, before used as a schoolhouse.
As of July 22,2023 it is still standing but has been recently vandelized with all of the Eastern windows smashed out and holes punched into the interior walls…I have seen no coverage able the fate of this obviously historical Ankeny structure…Surely if millions of taxpayer monies can be spent to build a fancy bike trail bridge just up the road that the taxpayer money is available to preserve local educational history. I have recent photo images taken on 7/22/23…Look for my facebook group “Images By C J”.
Hi Chris,
So sad to hear that. If you have any photos of it to share, could you email me at jude3.gctwm@yahoo.com and I can post them here, giving you credit of course.
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