Iowa One Room Schools

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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.

Hazleton, IA

Photographed 6/29/08. On Iowa SR 150, we passed into Hazleton and saw this school, which had been moved to this location to preserve it.

Dover #?, South of Eldorado, IA

In this school we could see the remnants of the blackboard but could not get in a position to photograph it. This school is 2.8 miles south the Turkey River (at Eldorado) on Iowa SR 150, on the west side of the road. Photographed on 6/29/08.

Update: On 8/1/12 we drove by this school and, since it was falling apart, we photographed it again.

Dover #4, Willow Spring School

This school, built in 1912, was found on Iowa SR150 a few miles north of Eldorado, just north of King Rd, on the west side of the highway. Photographed 6/29/08.

This next photo was taken on 8/1/11. The brush around the school has been cleared away and it looks like they are restoring it.

Two more photos from 8/1/12

UPDATE 3/17/18: Look at the great restoration which has been accomplished!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Decorah, IA

On June 28th, 2008, I had a gig to play just southwest of Bluffton, IA. Bluffton is almost to the Minnesota border and the gig lasted into the evening, so we stayed overnight in Decorah. The next morning we headed back home after a tour of the Norwegian-American Museum. This school is at the museum, and had been moved there from several miles southeast of town. It was built in 1879.

The following photos were taken on 11 October 2013

Pilot Grove, Pilot Township #6

This school is located north of Williamsburg on SR149 and is in front of BJ Wrecker Service being used for storage. It was originally located in Pilot Township, about 4.5 miles WSW of its current location, at L Ave and 247th St. Built in 1874, it was active until 1949. In 1954 it was moved to Williamsburg for use as a meeting place for the local VFW post, and years later moved to its current location.

UPDATE 11/10/15: Today while on a trip to Williamsburg, I noticed this building was being disassembled, so I stopped to inquire as to what was taking place. The building has been purchased by Ron Holden and is scheduled to be moved to a new foundation on Maple St, about three blocks east of SR149, to be restored to it's school days, and next to one of the original houses in town, also being restored by the same owner. The floor and walls are still fairly well preserved as can be seen by the one photo I was able to shoot through a window: