Along the Inlet road

Last week I blogged about the old Inlet country school outside of Lee Center.  But there wasn't just one old country school on that road, it turned out there were Three!  A few miles past the Inlet school we came to the tiny hamlet of Shaw's, IL. and there right next to the road was the old Shaw's country school.

 It was in sad shape, with debris inside, the windows missing and damage to the roof. But there was still a lot of character left to it, even in its dilapidated condition. There was a basement type structure off to one side which we assumed was a storm cellar in times of severe weather. And off to one side was a cupola standing by itself in the yard which from the looks of it might have graced the top of the school at one time with a bell ensconced inside.

Leaving there and continuing on the same road we came to the Wedlock country school. We confined ourselves to exterior photo's as it was behind a barbed wire fence and thus on private property.  If the Shaw's school was in sad shape then Wedlock was in Terrible shape. It's literally falling apart and I imagine it's only a matter of time before it collapses in on itself. All three schools were of the same basic shape and size and there must have been a uniform design to their construction.

There was one thing of interest to note and perhaps one of my followers knows the answer. Even though each school was a different name (Inlet, Shaw's, Wedlock) they all had a sign over the door stating it was a "Standard" school. Was this the name of the school district or did it refer to something else? None of my research was able to tell me.  All of these schools are easy to find and if you have a free afternoon and want to go Exploring it's well worth the drive!