Early Grapeview schools - Part 1

Much of the information in this story is from the book "Grapeview, Detroit of the West," by Mary Sagerson and Duane Robinson.

In 1893, when the Grapeview area was known as Detroit (the name was changed in 1922), a small one-room schoolhouse was built near the water. "The school was located at the head of the slough right by the skid road that loggers built. The oxen teams working on hauling the logs down would fascinate the children. After their work, the loggers would leave the oxen in the clearing and they would wander over to the schoolhouse, which was built on log piers to be off the ground, and rub their horns against the piers. This made the building shake, providing much excitement and distraction for the children."

After a few years, the school board decided another site about a mile away would be better, so the schoolhouse was put on skids, hitched to a team of oxen, and dragged to its new location, with a crew clearing trees and brush out of the way as they went.

The student body was small, usually around 10 children. The teacher had to be prepared to teach all eight grades, with few supplies, in a room lighted by small windows and some kerosene lanterns. A wood-burning stove provided heat - the teacher built the fire in the morning and had to keep it hot throughout the day. In the memory of one student, "The only children who were really warm in the winter were the two or three seated closest to the stove. Sometimes children were allowed to take turns sitting by the stove during the noon hour so each one would know how it felt to be warm once during the day." Everyone looked forward to lunchtime when one of the mothers would be seen approaching in a wagon or on horseback with a large kettle of warm soup.

Settlers in the Mason Lake area had also built a school, in 1890, which was open as needed, depending on whether nearby logging camps were active. In 1909, Eva Blake was the only student "after Margaret Johnson, the only other student, decided it would be better to marry Albert Benson and not go to school."

The two schools were consolidated in 1911, forming School District 54, and a new schoolhouse was built at McLane Cove. Only seven years later, the district built a new $3,000 schoolhouse that had two large classrooms over a full basement. The two rooms were separated by a removable wall so programs could be held in one large room. Christmastime found the enlarged upper room hung with evergreen boughs, popcorn strings and paper snowflakes. Entertainment included recitations and music by all the students, culminating in hot cider and cookies and possibly even a visit from Santa himself, though his beard might be black.

Getting the children to the school was a challenge, in part due to the lack of roads. When the McLane Cove School opened, Elias "Long" Johnson was hired to bring his grandchildren from the lakes area with a horse and buggy as far as possible, then walk the rest of the way, picking up Eva Blake along the way. The trip took two hours and included stops at the steepest hills to rest the horses. For students on the far side of McLane Cove, the challenge was to disembark without getting their wet feet after being rowed to school.

New transportation problems were created when the Detroit and Mason Lake schools were consolidated. Initially, Fred Curl from Allyn took the job, intending to use his five-passenger Pullman car. Just before school opened he ran his car off the road and the stump that stopped him bent the axle. When school started, Curl transported the children using a team of horses and a surrey for about two weeks. Then, with the axle straightened, he began using the car. The road was bad, the hills steep and the car was badly overloaded. After two and a half months, he "threw in the sponge."

To be continued...

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."