Garner Township #3

At Big Grove Village, 2 miles south of U.S. 6 on 450th St.  Relocated here from near Council Bluffs.  Preserved.

Photographed 7/31/14

Unknown School

Five miles east of U.S.59 on SR92, .1 mile east of 460th St, at fire number 46098, north side of the road.  This school looks like it was relocated here, and it appears that the back side is facing the street.

Photographed on 7/31/14

Unknown Schools

Just inside of the county line, one mile west of Griswold, on the south side of SR92.  Appears to be two schools being put together to make a house.

Photographed 7/31/14

Curtiss School

On SR92, 3.3 miles west of Massena’s Main St.  On NE corner of 710th St.  Derelict.  Identity provided by Massena citizen.

Photographed on 7/31/14

UPDATE:  This building was demolished in 2016.

Victoria #5, Center School

Victoria #5, Center School.  In Massena, on 2nd Street, just west of Main St. on the north side behind an old gasoline station.  Moved here for preservation.

Photographed 7/31/14

Walnut #5

Walnut #5.  This school is now used as a house/inn.  From I-80 exit 83 at Casey, turn to the south side of I-80, and follow the road labeled N77/110th to the east, and it will turn southbound as Kent Ave.  Proceed south to G15/130th St and turn west.  Proceed one mile to next intersection.  The school is on the SW corner.

Photographed 7/31/14

Judy Briley Wedemeyer posted the following on the "Iowa's Rural Schools" Facebook page, 3/18/22:

Walnut center #5 in Adair County is still standing. This schoolhouse is the 2nd one on this site built in 1922 after the previous building was destroyed by fire. When the rural schools were closed in the early 1950's this building was remodeled for a rental. This former school provided housing for hired men, newlyweds, college interns and hunters. The upstairs was remodeled and the deck added to avoid fighting getting furniture up the narrow steep staircase. Original school had no basement but several years after it was built, parents of students gathered with shovels wheelbarrows and dug the basement by hand. Most of the townships schoolhouse ended up on other locations and became garages, shops and even parts of homes.

Dexter

All that remains of the 1879 Dexter school is the bell displayed as a memorial on old US6 (White Pole Road). 

Photographed 7/31/14

Sharon #4, East Lincoln School

I previously had these schools in two posts, as “Sharon #4, Lincoln School” and “Friendship School, Amish.”  Duane J. Gingerich, who attended school at East Lincoln, posted a comment with some information on the “Friendship School, Amish” post, but it got me a bit confused.  He then was gracious enough to e-mail me with some good information and explanations about the schools, as well as including photos.

Let’s first give you some directions to find these schools.  One needs to go north of Kalona on Hazelwood Ave (one mile east of SR1 and parallel to it), to the intersection of 520th Street.  The first building is on the SW corner while the second one is on the NE corner.  My photos were taken on 31 August 2011.

These first three photos are of the original structure, taken from Hazlewood, looking at the SW corner of the building, while the next one was taken from 520th St, west of Hazlewood.  The 5th photo is from Mr. Gingerich, and was photographed from 520th St on the east side of Hazlewood.  This structure was used from 1873 until 1937.

In 1937 a new structure was completed kitty-corner from the old building, and the old building was acquired by the Amish for use as a Sunday School; they added to the structure.  The new structure is shown in two older photos by Mr. Gingerich, and the two newer photos by me, followed by the last photo by Mr. Gingerich.  This school was closed in 1965 and then the Amish acquired it and named it “Friendship School.”

Now, I’ll let Mr. Gingerich tell you about the school buildings:

“This is where my mother (Katie Helmuth) attended school. The original structure up through 1937 was much smaller  (just the three windows on the right in the photo) than the present structure which has been extensively added to since it was repurposed by the Amish as a Sunday School back in the late 1930’s after the new East Lincoln school was built across the road. When my mother attended school in this structure, it was also colloquially known as ‘Dutch College’ because during non-school terms the community sponsored German language classes at Sharon#4/East Lincoln.  My oldest brother who is 90 remembers when he attended school here before the new school building was built. He remembers that they also called the old school ‘East Lincoln’ although, technically, in terms of Iowa’s school districts, it was Sharon #4."

"I went to school at East Lincoln [new building], graduating in 1958.  Back in the 40s the school looked like the first attached picture, complete with outdoor toilets.  We got rid of these in 1953 when indoor plumbing was added.  This school was constructed in 1937.  The winning construction bid was under $3000 and was won by my mother’s brother, a finish carpenter. Both my father and grandfather served on the ‘Sharon #4 District School Board in various capacities over the years.

Friendship School is nothing more or less than Lincoln/East Lincoln renamed. The Amish bought  the East Lincoln school…after consolidation had taken all the students out and put them in Washington Township School on the Angling Road. Since the Amish renamed East Lincoln and called it Friendship School, they have from time to time added other outbuildings to handle the number of students and other storage needs.

There you have it. I hope this clears up the confusion.  Thanks for all the work you have done to document these old Iowa one-room schools.  I remember my years at East Lincoln with great fondness.  As I have written elsewhere after retiring as an international lawyer based in Jakarta, Indonesia,  my eight years in a rural Iowa one-room school environment never disadvantaged me in any way. Quite the contrary."

My heartfelt thanks for Mr. Gingerich for all this information.

Bennett’s Seven Schools

The following information has been gleaned from the book, “Bennett, Iowa and Inland Township: A History,” by Verl L. Lekwa, in cooperation with the Bennett Community Club, 1983.

On 31 January 1943, the brick city school in Bennett burned and was gutted; it had been built in 1911 to replace a two-story wood frame structure, and a gymnasium had been added in 1929.  A temporary break in school attendance took place as they decided what to do.  A major problem was lack of money to build a new school. 

The school had students from 1st through 11th grades.  Tipton offered to take the high school students, the 25 then being transported by bus.  The other grades met in the Bank basement, the Methodist church sanctuary, the Methodist church basement, the Lutheran church and the Evangelical church.

In July a vote was taken to consolidate the rural schools in the township (Inland Township), still without a building.  In the fall of the 1943-1944 school year, cement block foundations were built along Third street for moving four rural schools, which had consolidated, into town for use as classrooms.  The first one was placed at the NW corner of Third and Maple.  

At the same time, a 12th grade was added.  By 1946 three more rural buildings were moved along the row on Third Street.  The fall of 1948 was the first time the high school students did not go to Tipton.

For the 1949-1950 school year, students attended a new school which had been built west of town, and all seven rural schools were sold at auction.  Six remained in town, with five of those becoming homes, while another was moved downtown to house a business.  The seventh was moved east of town and made into a residence.

The rural schools which moved to Bennett were as follows:
#2  Marsh School.  Built in 1895, in was moved to Bennett in 1946.

#3  Center School.  Original building constructed ca.1860, replaced 1/4 mile away with a newer building in 1868, and in 1929 that one was razed and replace with a new building which had a basement and toilets.  This one was moved to Bennett in 1946.

#4  Shiloh School.  Originally built in 1867, but replaced in 1898.  It closed in 1937, and was moved to Bennett in 1943.  This was the one which moved downtown in 1949.  Possibly it has been moved again as one of the schools depicted below, because these six were verified as schools by homeowners we talked to.

#5  Unity School.  Was 3 miles SW of town, originally built in 1866 and replaced in 1924 with a basement and toilets.   Moved to Bennett in 1943, and is the one moved east of town for a house.

#7  Willow Shade School.  Originally built in 1869, but replaced in 1916.  Was moved to Bennett in 1943.

#8  Summit School.  Originally 3 miles SE of town, built in 1868.  Moved to Bennett in 1943.

#9  Smith School.  Built in 1885, closed in 1935, moved to Bennett in 1943.

The first photo is from the book, and shows the first school moving into town.  The second photo shows the school buildings lined up along Third St, with the anchor point being the NW corner of Third and Maple.

While I recognized the one building, on Maple St, from Bill Sherman’s book, "Iowa’s Country Schools: Landmarks of Learning,” the rest were confirmed by two homeowners we met in town.  However, we were not given the identities as to which school was which, so if anyone can give such information, we’d appreciate it.  

This first school is on the NW corner of Third St and Maple St.  The problem with this one being identified as one of the seven is that in the photo of the first school being brought into town, this one appears to be the house on the right side of the photo!  So if it was a school, as identified by the one homeowner, then it would have been moved into town prior to the seven in 1943 and 1946. 

These two schools have been joined for this house.  They are on the NW corner of Third St. and Poplar (I'm wondering if these are in the original location, and perhaps the schools were lined on Third from the one on Third and Maple to Third and Poplar. If anyone can clear this up, I'd appreciate it.)

This third school was on Maple Street, SE corner of Fourth. (Unfortunately, we forgot to photograph the south side because we ended up in a conversation with the owner!)

This next school is immediately south of the previous one, still on Maple St.  This looks like it is probably the first one moved into town, since there appears to be only one square one in the photo of the row.

This last school is the home of a woman we talked to at the bank.  She said it has had many additions, which is why it no longer resembles a school.  It is on the SW corner of Fourth and Poplar Sts.

Photographs taken on 11/27/13.

UPDATE, 6/6/15.   On 6/4/15, we drove highway 130 to Bennet and then east bound to Tipton.  This building was discovered on highway 130 on the east side of Bennet.  Unity School was supposedly moved east of town to be a house.  We found no other building east of town other than normal farm houses.  This building on the south side of the street was either a church or a school; does anyone have any information about it?  The taller windows make me wonder if it was a church.

Photographed on 4/4/15