Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Rockland Jt. 4 - Fair View ************************************************ 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 December 30, 2007, 6:47 pm ROCKLAND JT. 4 —FAIR VIEW Harold O'Connell In 1918, the name of Fair View was given to this school that had for years been known as the Quarry school. Real old timers remember this as the Knapp school because it was located near the Knapp home and because of the official connections that the Knapps had with the school. The name Fair View was considered appropriate because a fair view of the farms and the river could be had from the school site. The Eaton, Cato, and Rockland assessment rolls of 1858 show that Rockland Jt. 4 was organized early in the 1850's. The school district at that time did not include Rockland sections 25 and 26, then belonging to the first Rockland district No. 9 (now no longer in existence). It was not until about 1873 that sections 25 and 26 in Rockland were added. The following history of the old schools and residents was furnished by County Judge Jerome Ledvina who taught the Quarry school in 1907. He has a most interesting and comprehensive history of this area. This history he read to the residents as a part of the dedication program for the new school. Only brief and pertinent school facts can be used in this article. "The first school was held in the D. B. Knapp stable in the summer of 1852. There were but few pupils and the teacher, Miss Williams, received $2 per week. No school was held during the winter because Mr. Knapp's cows had to have shelter. The district then agitated for a school. Town superintendent of schools, D. B. Knapp, issued a notice to Wm. Cary, a district resident, to call a meeting of the voters. He, accordingly, notified D. B. Knapp, John Williams, David and Silas Greenman, Peter Wegner, and Ole Larson. The meeting was held May 7, 1852. School officers, clerk Wm. Cary, treasurer Silas Greenman, and director D. B. Knapp, were elected. A site was leased from Mr. Knapp which was to be on the same corner now used for a site. A tax of $200 for the new school, $25 for teacher's wages, and $10 for a library was raised. Miss Holbrook was engaged to teach at $2 per week, with the provision that the summer session was to end before August 1st. The contract to build was let to Mr. Knapp for $145, and it was to be built "according to plans and specifications". The building was to be 20 x 26 feet. At another meeting held on Oct. 9, 1852, the voters evidently felt that the sum of $200 for a building was excessive, for they recinded the May 7th vote, and planned to raise but $70 for a school 16 x 14 feet. Evidently, too, they were not satisfied with the chosen site for the voters planned to build the school on the Silas Greenman farm, the old Frank Koeppe place. During 1853, nothing was done about building. In 1854, the voters changed their minds again and voted to build on the present site. The building was to be 18 x 22 and constructed of logs The sum of $150 was raised and Ole Olson, Crosier Tufts, and John Williams were appointed to the building committee. They resigned for some reason throwing the job on the school board. The building was completed by September 1854. A comfortable shanty was also built and used as a summer school. In 1855, Chas. Williams was paid $4 for making window shutters. By 1873, the little log school was considered inadequate for the district since sections 25 and 26 were then added to the district. Accordingly, a special meeting was called to vote for a new school. The sum of $450 was raised for a frame building 24x30 feet on the same site. Wm Cary was the contractor and Wencel Rappel, T. G. Torrison, and Lars Erickson were on the building committee. The site, 9 rods square, was purchased from A. D. Knapp for $12. The second school had one entrance door leading into a hall across the front of the building. Another door lead into a classroom crudely furnished with double desks, a box stove, few "black" boards, and the water bucket. The room was first plastered in 1883. A woodshed was built in 1892 and the well drilled in 1896. New sidings were put on the building in 1900. In 1905, a committee composed of Martin Rappel, George Torrison, and Knute Thompson was asked to investigate the cost of a new school. They recommended that a new school be built in 1906 as the old building was in bad condition. On Oct. 30, 1905, a special meeting was called to vote on the question of a new school. The vote, was 16 for and 4 against. Then the question whether a two story structure was to be built was favored 15 for and 5 against. After further discussion, the vote was reconsidered and a one story building was ordered." (End of quote from the Ledvina article). The old frame schoolhouse was sold and moved to Quarry where it was turned into a butcher shop just north of the present Robison tavern. Later the building was again remodeled and made into a home which was owned by George Steiner. The next and present frame building was erected in 1907 at a cost of $2,200. The building is 37 x 44 feet, with a schoolroom 26 x 44 feet. A full basement now houses a furnace-ventilating system, an inadequate playroom, and a fuel room. When the school was built, an upright heater-ventilating system in the schoolroom was used. Until the building was remodeled, two separate porches were used. The porch at the S.E. corner of the building was used by the boys to enter their cloakroom. From this cloakroom one door led to the basement and one door to the schoolroom. The porch at the S.W. corner of the school led to the girls' cloakroom. Between the two cloakrooms, there was a library room with open shelving holding hundreds of books. A large belfry atop the school housed the large school bell which could be heard far and wide. The schoolroom itself was lighted with many windows on the west, north, and east sides. The windows were installed on the three sides so that the school could be changed to a two department building. Large double desks from the old building seated the many pupils enrolled. The present Judge Jerome Ledvina was the teacher who moved from the old school to the new school just before Christmas in 1907. By 1921, the enrollment had become so large that the state demanded a two room school. At the annual meeting of 1921, arrangements were made to make the necessary changes, with Mike Gill and Olaf Lundberg assisting the school officers in making plans, etc. The main changes required were to provide a new entrance, and to remodel the front of the building. The two porches were removed and additions to the main building built in their places. A large porch was built to the front of the school, with double doors leading directly, into a common hall. The library room and the basement stairway were torn out and moved to the new addition which was built where the girls' entrance and porch once was. The part built on, where formerly the boys' porch was located, became a domestic science room. The classroom was partitioned into two equal rooms by installing folding doors. After being a state graded school for twenty years, this school reverted to a one-room building in 1941. The folding doors were thrown-open and a large classroom was again available. During the time that the school was graded, yearly improvements were made. In 1929 a fire, while the school was in session, caused minor damages. To gain greater protection against disaster, a telephone was installed, and the next year membership in the Valders Fire department was obtained by subscribing to $30 worth of stock. During succeeding years a piano was purchased, electric lights and a new furnace and stoker installed, and in 1943 a water system added. Today the school is modern except for indoor lavatories,, and that is being considered for the near future. To the original half acre of the schoolyard, another half acre was added to the north when the new school was built. In 1916, it was decided to exchange this new addition on the north for an equal plot of land to the west for $100 additional. A garage was built in 1924. Sons and daughters of the former Quarry workers have moved to all sections of our country so the influence of the school has been great. Pioneers supplying county teachers were the Erickson, Larson, Mallmann, Thompson, Zipperer, Rappel, Wigen, and O'Neil families. The fact that so many have become teachers Indicates that outstanding educators were engaged whenever possible. Judge Ledvina's article listed Wm. Cary, D. B. Knapp, Silas. Greenman, Chas. Williams, John Larson, Ole Severson, Melville Ingleson, Ephraim Haywood, Ole Olson, Halstrom Olson, Torgus Torrison, Knude Olson, Eric Olson, John Nelson, Ole Wigen, Ole Lotten, O. K. Erickson, G. T. Torrison, Olaf Lundberg, Knute Thompson, and Jos. Zipperer as board members before 1907. Because of the fine history written by Judge Ledvina a complete list of the teachers up to 1907 is available. They were as follows: Miss Williams, Miss Holbrook, Harriet Soper, Melville Ingleson, Miss Hamilton, Miss Barter, Flora and Augusta Knapp, N. A. Synon, Cordelia White, G. A. Aubol, Richard Burke, Geo. Cameron, Mary and Nettie Montgomery, James McCulley, Jack Lyons, Maggie Crowe, Clara Filholm, Fred Hammond, Walter Larson, Fred Gensch, Maggie Mullins, Mabel Gigstad, Robert Shambeau, John Finch, Ray Niquette, Dave Fitzgerald, Julia Lotten, Elmer Geraldson, and Jerome Ledvina. There was no village of Quarry before 1896. That year the Wisconsin Railway Company built a railroad from Neenah to Manitowoc. The first train passed through Quarry June 24, 1896. The first residence was built that year in the present village. Up to 1900, mail was gotten from Clarks Mills and Eaton. In 1900, the Quarry postoffice was established with John Mallmann the postmaster. He had the office in a semi-store and cheese factory then located at the west end of the bridge, east of the present school. The name Quarry was suggested by Knute Thompson. The postoffice was moved to the village in 1904. Today the quarries have died out and the village homes on the "West Side" have been razed and sold. The village has ceased to be important to the community as a mail, rail, and trade center. 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/rockland228gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 10.9 Kb