This article comprises research conducted by Sue Leslie, Myrna Griffith and Deanette Snyder.
The original survey of Dallas Township was made from 1849 to 1851. It showed two families residing in the area. When the town of Dawson began in section 10 of Dallas Township in 1884, there were close to 100 families in the area.
According to R. F. Wood’s 1869 volume, “Past and Present of Dallas County, Iowa: Primary Source Edition,” in Dallas Township “a school house was already built on the present site and had been used some time before the town started.” This school was known as Tolle School. It burned down and was rebuilt. This was the site where the Dawson School once stood.
Although we tend to think of all one-room schools as looking alike, there were some variations. In fact, Steve Johnson uncovered 18 styles that were common throughout Iowa, as outlined in his article, “Architectural Styles of Iowa’s One Room Schools.”
The earliest schools were patterned after the homes in the communities and were made of logs. Since there was no electricity, from two to four sets of windows were installed on opposing walls in order to supply lighting. This was followed by the clapboard style, as seen in the Alton School at Forest Park Museum in Perry.
Most of the early schools were built without basements. However, by the turn of the 20th century, a basement was needed to house the furnaces that were replacing the wood or coal stoves that were a central part of the schools. An entryway was a later addition to the design as well.
Some schools had an outbuilding to store wood or coal as well as a shelter for horses the students might ride to school. In later years, the teacher could use it as a garage. There were the outhouses for the boys and girls, of course.
Dallas #9 was one of the few in the state which was built using cement blocks. Jack E. Collins has documented the history of Dallas #9, also known as Maple Grove School, in his books, “A Room Full of Memories” and “More about a Room of Memories.”
The school began as a small, wood-frame school, painted white. It was constructed in 1876 on land owned by James Berry. It served its purpose until the summer of 1912, when a new and larger school of cement blocks was built — even though there was some question as to the wisdom of using the blocks because of the coldness of the cement.
Collins describes the building as a “high-ceiling, cream-colored large room, with a small vestibule or cloakroom added in the 1930s.”
After the school had been closed for several years, it was sold and later torn down. As Collins recounts, “When the building was down and all except the foundation and front steps had been hauled away, Clyde Robinson asked my father to blow up the foundations and steps to clear the land for plowing. Father was only too glad to oblige because he delighted in using dynamite. He went to Yale and bought a case of it.”
It seems that when all that was left were the large concrete front steps, he put his remaining stock of dynamite — about one-third of a case — under the steps and touched the fuse. Luckily, he and the others gathered had retired to a safe distance, because the grand finale was grander than expected. Chunks of concrete rained down far and wide, with a very sizeable piece going through Austin Robinson’s roof!
Brent Hegstrom’s mother and two sisters, known as the Fagen girls, went to Coffee School. They all loved music and played at all the events there. They later formed a band and played all around the area, including on WHO radio and WOI TV.
Hegstrom’s father liked to play baseball at the school as well as skate on the pond just west of the school. In the winter, he and the other boys would haul fire wood and clean a trail to the outhouse.
As is usual, the teachers in the Dallas Township schools are remembered fondly. Mrs. Maude Kempf taught in Dallas #3 in the late 1800s. Miss Rosella Newlin was possibly one of the last teachers at the Bunker Hill School. She transferred to Dawson and began teaching there in 1922. Blanche Fagen taught at Dallas #4 for four years after attending the Perry Normal College, and Eloise Dunlop Ritzman spent her first year of teaching at Dallas #9 in 1941-1942.
In an ongoing effort to preserve the history of our township schools, we are seeking details on the names and locations of the other schools in Dallas Township. If you have any information about these schools, such as their location or stories of students who attended them, our group would like to hear from you. Please contact Myrna Griffith at wpldirector@minburncomm.net, Deanette Snyder at deanettesnyder@gmail.com or Sue Leslie at densueles@aol.com.
