Sheldon, Iowa Site of Schoolhouse Preservation Conference!
Submitted by Stan & Colleen Lemkuil
The 18th Annual Country School Preservation Conference will be held October 6-7, 2017 at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, IA.
Sponsored by the Prairie Arts Historical Park and a host of support groups, the two-day conference offers an array of country school topics.
Friday, October 6th offers a full day program including 10 presenters, a panel of authors and researchers on country schooling, and tours of the Prairie Arts Historical Park and Sheldon Prairie Museum.
Saturday, October 7th includes the bus tour of Marcus town museum, Lily of the Valley School Museum in Cherokee, Sanford Museum in Cherokee, and the Grand View Heritage Complex near Washta.
Early registration is appreciated. The deadline is October 1, 2017.
For a full conference brochure access this link:
Download CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Prairie Arts Historical Park is proud to welcome conference participants to their restored country schools including:
The Baker School, moved to Sheldon, Iowa in 2015. The Baker Township School also called the Center School was built in 1936 at a cost of $750.00 as noted in the Trustees' Minutes book. The minutes state that is was closed in 1951 but the last date school classes were held there was 1947. The building was then used as a voting precinct for the township, 4-H meetings, and events, a community activity center and the board of trustees meetings. Eventually, the building was donated by the Board of Trustees to the Prairie Arts Council to be placed in the Prairie Arts Historical Park in Sheldon at 1423 Park Street. In November 2014 a fundraising project was established to provide the estimated $65,000 needed to move and refurbish the school to be an activity center in Sheldon. The building was moved on June 15, 2015. It was painted on the outside and renovations inside and outside are outgoing. Contributions are still needed at Praire Arts Council, Box 61, Sheldon, IA 51201 and designated for Baker renovation.
Baker Township School
Linn Township School
The Linn Township School was built at Lily Avenue, two miles south of Highway 18, in 1927 and closed in 1960. The school was donated by Carolyn Vande Brink Walsh of Utah and moved to the Prairie Arts Historical Park in 2002. After two years it was restored with modern bathrooms and a ramp for the handicapped.
Carolyn's father, John, was one of the last students of the old shoebox school and among the first to attend this, then modern cottage-type school with indoor chemical toilets.
Mrs. Elsa De Vries Zuiderweg was the last teacher to teach in this school. After closing as a school, the school was used as a voting place for several years.
The building is now used for Northwest Iowa Community College Art Classes in Ceramic and Painting. The classes are taught by Harold Tuttle, Lisa Lane-Johnson, and assistant teacher, Karin VandenBerg. The main floor is for painting and the basement is for the ceramics.
Sheldon's First Schoolhouse
The first school building in Floyd Township, O'Brien Co. IA. was built in 1873 on the outskirts of Sheldon, through the efforts of Benjamin Jones, an early pioneer, and settler. As the settlement grew and enrollment increased, a larger two story school House was built at 1003 Fourth Street. The first school was closed in 1880. In 1884 the building was moved uptown to 914 Third Street (Main Street). There it was used as a dance hall, lecture and debate hall, church services, and a meeting place for politicians. Later it became Sheldon's First Fire Hall. In 1903 it was purchased by Scott Logan and moved to his Prarie Queen Dairy Farm. (now the City Park). The school was placed at 417 Sixth Avenue (now where the home of Dr. Ronald Zoutendam is.) Here the building was used as a milk house and workshop for the dairy.
In 1935, Dick Wansink purchased the school and moved it to his farm at 1423 Park Street, Sheldon for this mother to use as her wash house. Later Mr. Wansink remodeled it into his garage.
In 1983 Mr. Wansink donated the property to the Prairie Arts Council. It was restored as a school house in 1988 to 1991. Its intended use was to be an art classroom. Miss Elizabeth Den Hartog suggested that it become a museum of early country school education. The community then donated the desks, school books, school equipment, etc.
The building is now used as a Country School Museum. Area schools bring their classes for a "Day of Country School." A volunteer is on hand to tell them about the structure of the school day and abut the equipment used, the games the children played at recess and noon hour.
Floyd Township #8
Floyd Township No. 8 - The Nelson School from O'Brien Co. IA was built in 1878. The original building had two doors and cloakroom. As enrollment increased and space was needed, the school was remodeled. The two doors were replaced by windows, the entry door placed in the center, between them. The cloak rooms were removed to allow more seating.
The school was replaced in 1927 by the more modern cottage type school. The old school house was sold to F.N. Frohwein. It was moved to his farm to be used as a shop, cob house, and garage. In 1992, Mrs. Ethel Frohwein Hulst and Iva Hane Frohwein donated the school to Prairie Arts Council.
It was then moved to its new location at 1423 Park St. Sheldon, IA, The school house is now used to host the Werner Lode Model Farm Buildings and Churches, wood sculptures and clocks.
We hope to see you at the conference in October, then again when you visit our schools!
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