As the area children have returned to school and become familiar with its routine, former students of Grant County rural schools have an opportunity to return to their schoolhouse whether in person or in their memory. That is due to a book recently published by the Grant County Genealogical Society titled Grant County One Room School Houses and is available for purchase there for $25. It features pictures then and now of the rural schools in Grant County from the 1860s to the 1960s. Additional information of each school as to its location and a map, the year it was built and closed, and its later use is also included.
These schools provided an education and a way to improve a person socially and economically. It was an opportunity for rich and poor, religious and nonreligious, immigrants and non-immigrants to learn how to play, work, and study together.
Those who attended rural schools have many memories of the walk to and from school, of getting water, of recess and games, holiday programs, picnics, school lunches, getting in trouble, the smell of sweeping compound, goiter pills, school library books, outhouses, visits by the school superintendent, basket socials, learning English (for non-English speakers), graduation day, and more.
If you are someone who attended one of those 190+ rural schools in Grant County, you may be interested to know that the Grant County History Museum in Lancaster, Wisconsin, is making them its focus from now until mid-November. The window of the Museum, in addition to the display within the museum, is a glimpse into their past. Anyone who attended any one of these Grant County rural schools is invited to stop by the museum and share on video the name and place of the school they attended and a memory or two of their days there. You will be creating history for future generations. The Grant County History Museum is located at 135 E. Maple Street and is open weekdays 1-4pm.