The Pleasant Grove school

We are fortunate that in our state there are still numerous reminders of an earlier age. An age where Education was made available to the masses in the form of the ubiquitous country school. Rural children lived away from larger towns in a time before every person had at least one car or truck, so what was to be done to ensure they received the knowledge needed to get ahead in the world? The answer again is the country school.

Just the other day I had a chance to visit one such reminder of those earlier days. Located near the village of Buda, the Pleasant Grove school has been standing for 116 years and still looks just as strong as they day it was built. The school opened in 1902 with Kitty Cummings serving as it's first teacher.  The school was there at the start and end of World War one. It was there during the Great Depression. It was there during the bombing of Pearl Harbor that ushered in a Second world war.  It was still standing, and serving students, during the Korean conflict.

It stood the test of time until 1960 when finally it closed with Clara Skaggs as it's last teacher. Most of these old schools have been torn down, or left to rot but for Pleasant Grove it has been repurposed as a barn. The day we were there it was quiet and peaceful but one could almost imagine the ringing of a bell as children were called to class.

It should be noted that this is on private property and we were allowed to take our photo's with the landowners permission. My special thanks to Carole Novak and Larry Moore for sharing their memories of attending the school and showing us around.