Iowa City, Oxford Township District #11

This school is at 405 N. Reno St, at the NW corner of E. Davenport St.  There is a discrepancy with information about when this school was built.  The Des Moines Register shows 1867.  Information from Joan Dinnel to me cites Marybeth Slonneger’s book, “Small But Ours,” about this area, with a large Czech population, known as “Goosetown.”  Marybeth’s book says, “The earliest school building remaining in Iowa City a one room district school house dating from before 1858 that stands on the corner of Davenport and Reno streets, adjacent to what was then the Irish property. This location suggests that the school may have served the educational needs of the Irish children as generations of this family taught in the community. By 1858 the district schoolhouse was considered inadequate and was replaced by the Third Ward School further west on Davenport Street. For a time, the little frame schoolhouse became a protestant Sunday school. Then it was purchased by the Prybil family and became a private home, which it remains today."

There is an obvious addition on the north side of the home.

The first photo is looking at the SW corner of the house, and then photographing moving east to the corner and then north to shoot the east side.

Photographed on 10/31/14