Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Rockland 10 - Long Lake ************************************************ 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, 7:03 pm ROCKLAND 10 —LONG LAKE Alice Cottrell Rockland school district No. 10 was always known as the Long Lake school since the schoolhouse is located a half mile east of that lake. It was only natural then that that name was chosen as the official name of that school in 1918. The Long Lake district was organized in 1895 and was detached from Rockland district No. 6 and Jt. 5 Rantoul, Calumet county. Prior to this time, this community was compelled to send most of its children three or more miles to the school situated close to the eastern boundary of the old Rockland No. 6. Since this schoolhouse was not within "walking distance" for the pupils in this area, William Behnke and Henry Engel took the initiative to organize a school district near Long Lake. These two men contacted the residents within a reasonable area, had them sign a petition, and presented the same to the town boards of Rockland and Rantoul, headed by chairmen Thompson of Rockland and Hedrick of Rantoul. In about two months the two town boards granted the petition for a new school district, and thus was organized Rockland school district No. 10, situated in the northwestern part of the township of Rockland. The first district meeting was held in 1895. Henry Engel was chosen clerk at a salary of $4 per year. Robert Luedtke was elected treasurer and August Wenzel director. The voters at this first meeting decided to build on a three-fourths acre site at the Northwest corner of the SW 1/4 of Section 8, town of Rockland. This site was donated to the district by Chas. Kanter for school purposes only. The frame school house was built during the fall of 1895 6y Carl Luedtke for $552. To improve accessibility to the school for some district residents living to the north of the school site, a town road was constructed from the present Otto Bessert farm to the school corner. The school house is about 24 x 30 feet without a basement. A small-attached storm shed at the entrance leads to a cloakroom across the front of the building. Two small windows, one at each end of the cloakroom, light this part of the building. One door at each end of the cloakroom leads into a good-sized classroom furnished with double desks and seats. A floor furnace at the northwest corner of the room is the heating and ventilating system. Open-shelved libraries, as well as cupboards, are used to store the library and textbooks. A teacher's desk, a work table, and a piano make up the rest of the room furniture. In recent years the walls and ceiling were covered with Nuwood and electric lights were installed. A door at the southeast corner of the schoolroom leads directly out to the schoolyard on which are located the woodshed, the toilets, and some playground equipment. Rockland No. 10 has always maintained a one-room school. Because the district is a farming community, the enrollment has never been too large. The first year of school 40 pupils were enrolled. By 1906, only 30 children attended out of a school census of about 60. The greatest number to attend in one term was 44, but for the last twenty years the enrollment has averaged between 15 and 25 yearly. This, decrease in the number of pupils is due largely to the smaller families, for by 1946 there were only 36 pupils of school age residing in the district. School records show that several residents have served term after term on the schoolboard. The first treasurer, Robert Luedtke, served on the Board for 25 years, while Henry Engel served as clerk for 17 years. Another resident who served 20 years on the local board was William Schmidt. Because of its recent origin, the list of teachers teaching-in Rockland No. 10 is complete. Mary Etzler, the first teacher, received a salary of $20 per month for an eight month term. Other teachers were Sadie Brennan 1896, Mary Etzler 1897-98, Chas. Etzler, Lizzie Halloran, Clara Knutson, Mabel Jacobsen, Mary Gass, and C. Habighorst. The above named teachers taught this school prior to 1906. A later teacher, Elizabeth Marquardt, became a county supervising teacher. The Long Lake district was settled by German emmigrants. Some of the early settlers whose names are still common to the community were the Luedtkes, Wenzels, Kanters, Kinasts, Behnkes, Kruegers, Burichs, Kreplines, Engels, and Schmidts. All of them were farmers and have left descendants who became well-known in this and other communities. One business place of years back was a sawmill operated in partnership by Albert and Carl Behnke. Today, the prosperous community is traversed by school buses which transport high school pupils to Brillion. The little one-room school built 52 years ago, no doubt, will soon be modernized or suspend operation as did its parent district No. 6 Rockland a few years ago. 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/rockland230gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb