Nagle School

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":

The remaining photos were taken by Chris C.J. Johnson.

Pleasant Corners School

No information found about where Pleasant Corners school was moved from, or the date it was built.  It is located NW of the downtown Des Moines, area at 1350 E. Washington Ave.  This is at the NW corner of Washington and E. 14th St.  There is a brick building at this corner which used to be Whittier School, which faces Washington St.  Apparently at one time Pleasant Corners was moved here as an addition to the school on its north side.  By 1998 the building was used as the Boys & Girls Club of Central Iowa, but appeared to be vacant at the time of our photo.  I was told by the neighbor on the north side of the school that the Pleasant Corners building is to be made into an art gallery.

Photographed 8/13/12

Benton #?, Lower Stone School

Built in the 1880s, this school’s roof was destroyed by a fire in the 1940s.  At some point in time the school was used as an art gallery, but is now used for storage.  Proceed north out of Shellsburg on County W26 4.7 miles to 59th St, and then proceed .9 mile east to the school on the south side of the road.

Photographed 8/4/12

Hazleton Township #?

SW corner of the township, 1552 Grant Ave, about 1/2 mile north of 160th Street.  Converted to home, but now derelict.

Photographed 8/3/12

Pleasant #7, Paulson School

The owner of this school contacted me after finding this blog.  This school has been converted into a real nice house.  It is 1.9 miles south of Sattre, at 2972 River Road, with Decorah post office.  It's about 12 miles northeast of Decorah.

Photographed 8/1/12

Pleasant Township #8, Sattre School

From Sattre, proceed west 1/2 mile on Sattre Ridge Rd, and this school is on the south side back in the brush.  Derelict.

Photographed 8/1/12

Pleasant Township #1, Bigler School

Built 1930. On the NW corner of Big Canoe Rd. and River Rd.  Address is 1152 Big Canoe Rd.  Converted to home in 1947.

Photographed 8/1/12

Burr Oak School

Burr Oak School.  At 2351 360th St. in Burr Oak, this 2-room school is on its original location, now converted to a house. The current owner, who converted the school to his home, had a collection of photos and articles framed, which he brought out for us to see.  I photographed it, but apparently I was too quick to not let the autofocus finish, because the photo isn’t sharp enough to read the data I was hoping to have.

The original structure at this site was a 1-room wooden building.  That one was torn down when they needed more room and circa 1870 built a 2-room brick structure, which can be seen in the first photo under the newspaper article on the right side of the photo frame.

The school’s bricks were soft and crumbly, so sometime circa 1910 it was razed and replaced by this wooden structure, which has undergone a variety of uses since it closed.  The bottom right photo in the frame is dated 1945, and at that time it was already in pretty sad shape and had not been used as a school for several years.

Photographed 8/1/12
The following photograph was taken 10/12/13

Canoe Township #?, Pot Hollow School

This school was originally located north of Decorah; from US52 turn west on Meadowlark Rd, and then turn south on wagon road to the first curve.  It was moved to Burr Oak in 1960, to be next to the Burr Oak School.  The school was built in 1915 and restored in 1994.  It was used as an artist’s studio when first moved.  It is in the town of Burr Oak, at 2353 360th St.

Photographed 8/1/12

Big Grove #6, South Edgewood School

Proceed west of Solon on 180th St. to Mehaffey Bridge Rd, and proceed south 1 mile to 200th St.  Turn east and proceed about 1/2 mile.  The school is on the north side of the road.  Derelict, possibly storage.

Photographed 7/15/12

Locust Grove #?, Unknown School 2

About 5 miles west of Fairfield on U.S. 34 is county road V63/Packwood Rd, which goes northbound.  About 1/2 mile north of U.S. 34 is the junction of a road; eastbound the road is 200th St but westbound it is 197th Blvd.  This school is located on the NW corner of this intersection.  Now used for grain storage.

This photo is of the back/north side of the school, photographed from V63.

This one is photographed from the corner of 197th Blvd.

The last two shots are taken from 197th Blvd.

Photographed 6/16/12

Locust Grove #?, Unknown School 1

From U.S. 34 just west of Fairfield, turn north on H33, which will then bend northwest.  From U.S. 34 proceed 7 miles on H33 to the junction of V63.  About 300’ SW of that junction is a house which was converted from a 2-room school.  This school may also be reached by proceeding north on V63 from U.S.34; I forgot to get the exact distance, but I estimate about 3 miles.

This first shot is of the back, or northwest side of the school, seen from H33.  Signs around the lot were posted "No Trespassing," so I did not attempt to get a clear shot by moving closer.

This next photo was taken from east of the house while on V63.

Photographed 6/16/12

Center #4, Elm Grove School

Moved from unknown nearby location to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on the west side of Fairfield, on U.S. 34.

Photographed 6/16/12