Old House

Just for interest sake, this house is one-tenth of a mile from Hardscrabble school.  The owners, who were working in the yard, said this house was over 150 years old.  Since this house was here before the civil war, it had already been there at least a decade before the school was built.  I would then assume that any children living here would have attended Hardscrabble school.

Castle Grove #9, Hardscrabble School

Yesterday when we went to look for this one we discovered just how inaccurate directions can be!  Information we had was from a university study, but their directions led us on a 40 min goose-chase until we accidentally came across Hardscrabble Road (not even mentioned in the directions) and assumed it would lead to the school.  ARGH!

So if you're looking for this one, from Monticello, IA you must head west on D62 for 4.3 miles to 205th Avenue and turn north.  After traveling .7 mile you will intersect Hardscrabble Road and continue north for  another 1.5 miles to the school.  If you miss 205th Ave, the next road you will come to on the right is Hardscrabble, but I didn't get the distance (about a mile, though).

This school was used from early 1870s until 1959 and is now a private residence.  The greater percentage of its students were Indians.

Not being able to get on the property, all these were photographed with a telephoto lens.

Amber, Iowa

On the east side of Amber is the community center, which used to be the Wayne Zion Lutheran school in Wayne Township.  The town of Amber purchased it an moved it here. Of course the vinyl siding has been added, but looking up under the eaves one can see the old structure.

Wayne #6, Edinburg, IA

From Amber, IA, go two miles east on County Home Rd E23 and this will be on the NE corner of 140th Avenue, about 1 mile west of Edinburg.

I previously posted shots of this school, which were taken in 2006, but those were taken with too much growth around the school so you couldn't see a whole lot.  I deleted those shots.  These shots were taken today as we headed out to find it again.  Since our last time there, the outside has been painted, but nothing else appears to have been done to prevent this school from further deterioration.

Red Oak #1, Bedbug School

This school was Red Oak #1, also known as Bedbug School.  It was moved in 1989 from somewhere in Cedar County to the Cedar County Fairgrounds in Tipton.  About a year ago it was moved to its current location .4 mile north of Tipton city limits on SR38.  It is with an old church, an old log cabin and another old building, all of which have been moved within the same time frame because the foundations are all fairly recent.  The new location is the Cedar County Historical Society Museum.

One thing I thought was interesting is the door being recessed between the cloak-rooms.  Usually there is  a hall from the door with cloak-rooms on either side.  Also, as with some of the other schools, you can tell which wall the blackboard was on - the one without windows.

UPDATE 10/11/15:  The following information came from the Des Moines Register newspaper:

The Bed Bug school in Cedar County has also seen many changes. Built in 1910 in a rural area, it closed in 1925 when the Tipton consolidated district formed.

Most country schools were officially noted by just a district number, so residents came up with creative names for their local schools. Sandy Harmel, museum coordinator for the Cedar County Historical Society, said Bed Bug apparently got its name after it became a popular bunking spot for hobos riding a nearby train line.

Bed Bug was moved to Tipton and ended up as a storage shed behind the high school. It was gifted to the society in the 1990s. But years of housing lawnmowers and other equipment had been hard on its wood planks.

"The floor was very oily and greasy looking — as far as the building, it was in pretty good shape — but it was going to be over $2,000 to have the floor professionally done," said society president Mike Bixler.

The state program provided $1,385 in 2012 toward having the floors repaired. "We probably wouldn't have done this project without that grant," Bixler said.

The organization has also painted the school and rebuilt the roof. A bell rings out to draw visitors during open houses, school field trips and the annual A Day on the Prairie event, which draws about 500 people to the school, a church and other buildings on the society's grounds.

UPDATE 4/3/17:  The following photos were taken on 1 April 2017, showing the restoration and display

UPDATE 10/9/20:  More photos of the restored buildings.

Rock Creek #7, Kellogg

Coming back from the State Fair in Des Moines yesterday, we left Interstate 80 at exit 173 and went north into Kellogg where we learned there was a school preserved, where it was moved from seven miles away to be part of a museum collection.  It is downtown next to an old church.

State Fair Grounds, Des Moines

This school is just a replica.  They had a real school which was moved here in 1968 and we never got a shot of it.  Last year it was so infested with termites that they tore it down at the end of the fair.  For this season, they built this nice replica, which we photographed yesterday.

Hickory Grove School, Near Ogden, IA

Yesterday, after riding the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, we went to find the Shelly Memorial Bridge and found this school.  This school was relocated, but I don't know from where.  There is an old church and parsonage just east of it on the same corner.

This school can be found about 1 1/2 miles east of Ogden on the southwest corner of County route E41 (Lincoln Highway) and J Avenue.

The school was used from 1889 to 1956.

These new photos were taken on 10/10/15:

Taylor #4, Weatherbee School

This school was moved to Marshalltown, IA, where we were passing through yesterday on our way to Boone.  It is just north of Main Street on 2nd Avenue.  As you can see, the one side has no windows, and that is the side the desks faced the blackboard.

Carroll Township #2, Iowa

Our last school of the day was the one preserved in Dysart.  It is located on Crisman Street just north of the city park, and behind an old church serving as the history society building.  This school is well preserved, but the windows had blinds so we couldn't get a shot inside.  Again, you can see the moon in a shot.  It was used from 1939 until 1961, and was moved here in October 2003.

Carroll Township #6, Iowa

Once we arrived in Clutier, we found the school with work being done on the front stoop and the bell tower.  Tom said this was exactly what #5 looked like before it was a barn, except that the one side has only one window; instead, the back has windows. (The cloak room on each side also had a window)  It had to do with which way faced the sun.  Since the back had windows, the class faced the virtually-windowless side which had blackboards.

Carroll Township #?, Iowa

After listening to the many stories about his life in the "country school," Tom and his wife Vickie departed while we were still taking photos.  When we finished our photography, we headed east on 245th Street towards Clutier.  About a mile and 1/2 west of town, where 245th stops as we turned south on R Ave we saw an old school sitting on the SE corner of R and 250th Street (which was the road to Clutier).  So we pulled up the hill on R Ave to get photos.  While there, Tom & Vickie showed up and Tom said they were heading over to Clutier to see the progress on the school, and he had forgotten all about this one.  Tom didn't know it's number, but it is still in Carroll Township.  Just before rejoining 250th eastbound, we stopped at the bottom of the hill so Jill could shoot the last one.  Notice the moon.

Carroll Township #5, Center School

Yesterday, 8/15/10, we decided to head over to Traer to see a school that was supposed to be there.  Arriving in town, I decided to ask a local for directions to the location, so I pulled over when I saw people outside a community center where a family reunion was just held.  I was told that school no longer existed.  Bummer.  Then I was questioned as to why I was looking for it, which led to the explanation of all this hobby stuff.  One gentleman, Tom Podhajsky, said there was a school down by his farm which is now used to store hay, but was the one he used to go to - Carroll #5.  Others in the the group began talking and we learned there was #6 about 1 1/2 miles from #5, but that it was moved to the nearby town of Clutier.  Another one, # 2, had been moved to Dysart.


Well, this was sort of exciting!  So Tom offered to lead us down to #5 since it was on his way home.  From   Traer we travelled south on US63 to PP Ave on our left, and headed south down that road until ended at 220th St.  We turned west a short distance to P Ave and then headed south again.  About 1/4 mile south of 245th we pulled up to the school.

As you can see, the south wall with the door is missing.  There is a lean-too on each side, and the east side is for the cattle to come into some shelter.

UPDATE 10/14/15:   We learned at a country school conference this past weekend that this school has been torn down.

Campton School, Lamont, IA

We found this school on the northeast corner of Buchanan-Delaware county line road and County Route CR64, which was really about 3 miles east of Lamont.  The school says "museum" on it, but when we pushed the door open to look in, it was quite a shambles and everything was covered in dust, so it's been a while since it was even a museum.

St. John's Lutheran School

Exiting US63 at Denver, IA, we had to stop at a farmers' market to ask where the village of Maxfield was because it isn't on the map.  Maxfield Township is shown, but no village.  We were directed north out of town on old US63 (business route) to 250th Street, and then went 1.7 miles east where we came to this school.

Built in 1881. Used as a school and church until the church was constructed.  School was restored in the early 1970s, rededicatd in 1976.  Now maintained as a museum and repository for the Church history.

An interesting thing about this site was the sidewalk and old street lamps that started just west of the school and continued east to the front of a church.  The church building was obiously new; a stone on it said 1856 to 1964, and the assumption we made was that this new building was probably built in 1964 next to the old one, and then the old one was torn down.  There is a cemetery behind the church.  Between the church and the school is a house which is no more than 100 years old, so it was probably built as a pastorate, and perhaps there was an older one there that it replaced.  But these buildings seem to be all that's left of the village.

Photographed 6/24/16