Big Grove #1, Stone Academy, Solon, IA

This is a school we passed many times before we decided we needed to take a photo in September 2005.  It is about three miles north of Solon, IA, on Iowa SR 1.  This stone school was built in 1842 and is used for field trips by local schools.  It closed in 1953.  Our original posted photo was taken with a 35mm photo, so on 3/16/11 we shot these with our digital camera.

In 1976 a tornado tore the roof off and destroyed the interior.  Restoration afterwards included fixing up the exterior walls and putting on a new roof, and then rebuilding the interior.