Iowa One Room Schools: Bennington #4

ORIGINS

I grew up in a small Ohio town and I rode the school bus from 1st through 12th grades. My bus ride always included a country road on which every school day we saw a one-room brick school house. (SW corner of Stine Rd and Enon-Xenia Pike). As the years went by I watched this wonderful, familiar friend fall apart. After I married the school really began to deteriorate. Every time we visited the area I would want to take a photo of the school but never did. Finally, when we went specifically for the task, the school was gone. It was a huge loss for me and, since that time, whenever we pass a one-room school it is a joy to stop to take a picture or two. Thus, our collection here and the blog with schools in other states. Jill :oD

Monday, July 4, 2011

Bennington #4

To locate this school, travel north of Waterloo for a few miles to Bennington Rd (2nd road past County Road C66), then turn east. Travel east about 2 miles to Sage Rd. The school is on the NE corner of this intersection. In this first photo you can see the original wood shed on the right, the original girl's outhouse back left, and a new "porta-potty" on the far left, covered with a wooden structure, at the original location for the boy's outhouse. This school operated from 1911 until 1955.

The landowner-farmer, Steve Sage, invited us to tour the inside. Mr. Sage attended this school from 1945 until 1953 and for a while used this school as a hay barn, as this photo from their display shows:

Mr. Sage still had the school bell on his property, and brought it back several years ago when many volunteers decided to restore this school. This is a photo of the school during its active days: