Remembering......

Local One-room schools

Green Grove Twp., Clark Co., Wisconsin

Excerpt from Kris Leonhardt's Owen-Withee Enterprise series,

"School Days:  Remembering local one room schools"

Elmwood School

Elmwood School records indicate that classes ran from 1902 and until 1961, when students were bussed to the Owen and Withee public schools.

Harold Hardrath recalls the original location of the Elmwood School on what is now Popple River Road in Section 34 of the Green Grove Township.

"When that school first started out it was one mile south of us on Popple River Road", says Harold.

Harold attended classes at the "old" Elmwood School for two years before the new school was built.

In 1923, a new building was constructed at the southeast corner of County Highway P and what is now Cloverdale Road, just a mile north and one half mile west of its original location.

Elmwood School treasurer records list wages to teacher, Kit Welsh, at $28 per month. This wage was paid out from November 1902 to May of 1903. Her wages were then increased to $30 per month, listed from October 1903 to May of 1904.

After Welsh's departure, Elmwood School hosted a long line of teachers, many of the teachers not staying more than one year.

Other teachers of the "new" Elmwood School included:  Walter Hintz, Ruth Rellis, Bertha Means, Edna Bakke, Edith Stafford, Mrs. J Witt, Dick Hetts, Nina Wolter, and Evelyn Witt. Grace Hardrath held the longest term, staying from 1934-1938.

Former Elwood student, Bev Molitor, recalls a teacher by the name of Miss Mississippi. "She always wanted us to get outside and exercise. We always played baseball. We even competed with other schools," says Molitor.

As in other rural schools, the departure of numerous teachers often had an effect on the education students received. "I never learned a thing (at Elmwood). There were so many teachers," explains Molitor.

In 1962, state statutes called for the integration of rural school students into high school districts. Students from Elmwood were divided between the Owen and Withee graded schools.

The Elmwood School was then converted into a house. "They cut the top of the house, lowered the roof, and made it into a house," recalls Dorthaleen Hardrath. The converted building still stands today as a private residence.

Class Photos

1961

Story and photos by Kris Leonhardt

O-W Enterprise 2007