Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....District 2 Cooperstown - Greenstreet ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 27, 2007, 4:34 pm DISTRICT 2 COOPERSTOWN — GREENSTREET Molly N. Krish Soon after 1850, when Cooperstown became a part of Manitowoc County, a school was established in District 2. A short distance southwest of this new school there was a new settlement where Jos. Zelenka owned a store, a tavern and a dance hall. When a post office was set up in this village, there arose a need for a name for the settlement. Zelenka, a Bohemian, whose name meant "green", named the road in front of his place Green Street. Thus the village came to be known as Greenstreet and the nearby school became known as the Greenstreet School. That name it retains today. District No. 2 Cooperstown was organized around 1856, as records show that the first school meeting was held in the new school on February 2nd, 1857. A map of the newly created district, drawn by John Sager, the town superintendent of schools of Cooperstown, shows that originally it contained Sections 25-26-27-34-35-36 and the southern halves of Sections 22-23-24. The southern halves of Section 22-23-24 were added to Cooperstown 5 when it organized; the SE 1/4 of Section 36 and the E 1/2 of SW 1/4 of Section 36 were added to Kossuth Jt. 1; the E 1/2 of Section 25 was added to Gibson Jt 6; and SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 34 was added to Franklin Jt. 9 as years went by. The first schoolhouse, a log building, was erected in 1856 by John Chloupek of Francis Creek for the sum of three hundred dollars. It was located just one-half mile north of the present school site on an acre of land purchased from Frank Schwimbersky. The site cost $2.00. The equipment must have been meager for in 1857 the district spent only sixty-seven cents for a broom, a pail, and a pitcher. The following years, the records show that blackboards, chalk, door lock, and a register were the main items of equipment expense. Broken window panes were replaced frequently the records show. No fuel was needed for many years as the school was in session from the first of June to the last of August. It was in 1870 that the voters decided that school should be taught for a longer period than just during the summer months. The school board had the right to close the school whenever the roads became impassable. The first building was sold at public auction to Frank Holly for thirteen dollars. He probably moved it to his farm nearby for a farm building. The second school, a brick building, was built in 1881 on the same site as the first school. It was 34 feet long and 24 feet wide with windows on each of the long sides. Charles Habeck built the school for $720, but each farmer had to bring a load of stones for the foundation and a load of bricks from Manitowoc. The second school had long, wooden, homemade seats sufficient for seating seven or eight pupils on one bench. Sometimes the seats were so crowded that the pupil sitting on the end was frequently pushed off on the floor. Records show that Joseph Krejcarek made those seats for the school in 1885 for the sum of $42.50 including material and labor. Five cords of wood, split and piled, were purchased each year. This building and site served the district until 1910 when a new site and building replaced the old ones. The land and school were sold to Otto Taicher. The ruins of the second school stood until 1944 when Herman Wagner, who bought the property from Taicher, removed the bricks and leveled the land. No traces of the first and second schools now exist. By 1910 the second school needed many repairs and as it was not located in the center of the district, a special meeting was held at the school for the purpose of deciding whether to build a new school or repair the old one. By a vote of 36 to 16 it was decided to build a new school in the center of the district. One acre, the SW corner of the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 26, was purchased from August Kempfert. A frame building 34 x 36 feet was built by Math. Mleziva for the sum of $2,475. This is the school being used at present. It has a basement, a library, a small kitchen, electric lights, and most of the necessary teaching equipment found in rural schools. There are no records showing how many pupils attended the first school, but in 1899 there was an enrollment of 75 with a daily average attendance of 65. The present enrollment is 16. The parochial schools at Maribel and Kellnersville enroll many of the district children. The subjects taught in the first schools were reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic. Attendance was irregular, with the result that many ten year old children read from a primer and often never reached a much higher grade. Albert Harous, a Bohemian immigrant, taught in the old brick school. All of his teachings were in the Bohemian language. Some of the earliest settlers were Wenzel Maresch, the first business man in Greenstreet; Jos. Zelenka, who sold his place to Jos. Shuber; a Mr. Braun, a clock-maker; Thos. Juranek, a prominent church member; a Mr. Kuchera, who had a tavern, a store, and a dance hall on the present school site; Mrs. Kuchera, who raised tobacco, made and sold cigars to help support a family of 21 children; Frank Zeman, who bought the Kuchera place; and Frank Albrecht. During the early times the corner where the present school stands was a meeting place for the people of the surrounding communities. Fairs and markets were held each month. The old settlers recall the good times that they had at the dances in the hall. A crab apple tree on the present school site still stands to remind us of this extinct settlement. The first school officers were Clerk Frank Schwimbersky, Treasurer Frank Wanish, and Director Wencil Koutsky. Jos. Zelenka served as clerk from 1875 to 1895. The school records were well kept and written in Bohemian. Others who served on the school boards in the early days were: W. Rabenhorst, Frank Zeman, Frank Holly, Charles Habeck and Adolph Taicher. Early teachers were: Thos. Juranek, J. Floyd, L. Hink, Charles Krause, John Schmitt, John Chloupek, who later became County. Judge, Wilhelm Kellner, Josie O'Connor, Mary Burke, Eugene Mason, Maggie Kane, Rose Elmer, Christian Schade, Hannah Lorrigan, Ella Jaeckel, Will O'Connor and Wm. Coonly. Those since 1906 are listed in the county school annual. Jos. Hurka of Kellnersville was the last teacher in the old brick building and the first in the present one. Former pupils of Mr. Hurka recall how they marched from the old building to the new one. In the evening a program to celebrate the occasion was held at Shuber's Hall in Greenstreet. About the time of the Civil War, the town records show that the school was used as a town hall for Cooperstown. In 1852 a Catholic church was built and dedicated to St. Wencelaus. This old landmark, was torn down in 1947. The cemetery adjoining is kept up by the Kellnersville parish. Traces of the first Green Bay road can still be seem in the northeastern part of the district in the woods owned by Jos. Albrecht. For a long time mail was brought from Manitowoc to the post office at Greenstreet. People from the surrounding area had to walk there for their mail. The post office was discontinued about 1905 after the Chicago and Northwestern built a railroad through Maribel and a post office was set up there. Additional Comments: Extracted from: 1848 - 1948 CENTENNIAL HISTORY of the Manitowoc County School Districts and Public School System EDITED BY JOS. J. RAPPEL, COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 1948 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/manitowoc/history/schools/district80gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb