<p>The old Silvies Valley School in southern Grant County is typical of the style of one-room schoolhouses across the region.</p>

 

It wasnt just miners flooding into Grant County during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Families arrived too, which meant a growing number of children who needed to be educated, even if just through eighth-grade.

And with people spread far distances in this rural area, and transportation limited to foot or animal-powered methods, getting kids to school presented a problem.

The simple solution: Bring schools to where the kids were.

Over that period, numerous one-room schools sprang up throughout the Grant County to serve the need. Though not a complete list, here are some of those small schools, along with what is known about their start dates and locations :

Strawberry Creek School, 1893 West of the Roger Kent Ranch

Andy Thompson School Below Blue Mountain Springs on the Thompson homestead

Indian Creek School, 1887 On Indian Creek Road.

Bear Valley Lodge 1 School (District 37), 1900s Served Seneca and Camp 1

Junction School, 1910 Kimberly

Winegar School, 1890 In Winegar Gulch, south of the Alfred Coombs Ranch. Later moved to where the Riverside School stands today.

Dixie Creek School Near the Ernie Ricco Ranch.

Meador School, 1890s Three miles above Prairie City, near the home of Mike and Helen Emmel.

Lofton School Fox Valley, logschool house located in the Fox Cemetery. There were four one-room schools at one time in Fox.

Brownlee School, 1880

Marysville School, 1880 On French Charlie Hill (now Dog Creek Road).

Old Rebel School, 1864 On Rebel Hill in Canyon City.

Bates School, 1900s

Silvies School, 1898

Lone Rock School In the Cross Hollow District

Moon Creek School, 1876 Between Mt. Vernon and Dayville

Round Basin School, 1900s Near Monument

Cottonwood Creek School, 1900s

Carter School Three miles east of Long Creek

Cummingsville School 15 miles west of Mt. Vernon

Cammingville School, 1900s On Dry Creek near Moon Creek

Logdell School Bear Valley

Cant Ranch, 1917 School was held on the third floor of the Cant family home.

Izee School, 1900s In Walker Gulch, later moved to the old McCoffery home.

Information contributed by the Sumpter Valley RR and DeWitt Museum in Prairie City.