Oil Spring School moved to new home in Harpers Ferry; Piece of history becomes cornerstone for future plans to preserve heritage of that area

by Brianne Eilers

The one-room or two-room rural school houses that once held a prominent place in rural education have become mostly memories. Iowa’s “country schools” were in operation from roughly 1850 to 1960, and at one point there were over 12,000 of these school houses dotting the rural landscape.

While many of these structures have long since been remodeled or repurposed as other types of buildings or left to deteriorate, some are finding new life as a window to the past and what a country school used to be like.

The Harpers Ferry Area Heritage Society (HFAHS) recently gave new life and location to one of these area country schools. In November, the Oil Spring School House was moved onto leased land in Harpers Ferry as part of an ongoing project to preserve the area’s history.

The Oil Spring School, which has also been known as the Spring Brook School, was one of the rural schools in Taylor Township of Allamakee County. It was originally located a little over two miles north of Harpers Ferry, next to present-day Mohn’s Fish Market.

NAMESAKE
The name Oil Spring stems from the fact that water from a nearby spring produced an oily residue which floated on top. It was discovered that the water contained minerals. An article printed in the June 27, 1950 edition of The Waukon Republican newspaper noted that in 1915, Otto Cornellson came up with the idea to tout the water as a health tonic. He shipped water to La Crosse, WI to be bottled and the water was sold under the label of Harpers Ferry Mineral Water. The venture lasted about three years. The school itself lasted much longer than that, closing sometime around the 1950s.

HFAHS President Jane Hasek explained that the project to bring the school building to Harpers Ferry is a three-phase plan. The first phase was to acquire the school house and land to relocate the building to.

The building itself has never been changed, and has been well-preserved. “It had been used as a camping shelter by local boy scouts,” Hasek noted, as well as hunters. There had been a thought to just leave it in the original location, but there wouldn’t have been very good access to the site, and there is extremely limited parking in that area.

The HFAHS is actively campaigning for donations to offset the cost of this project, as well as writing grants and selling postcards of the Oil Spring School. Hasek noted that many local families have ties with the school, by way of students or teachers at the school. The group has been able to find some artifacts from the school, like teacher contracts and class photos, to help piece together the school’s history. Local residents can also provide some insight on the school.

LOCAL HERITAGE
Local resident Dick Saddler attended the Oil Spring School for eight years. His brother, Frank, and sister, Marie, also attended the school with him. “I’m happy to see the preservation,” he said.

His teachers included Catherine Kernan, whom he noted “taught quite a while”, Gertrude McGeough, Alice Evanson and Crystal (Mrs. Tom) O’Brien. He said that while sometimes the classes were pretty small, at one point there were 34 students in the small school.

Former owners of the school Steve and Shirley Hawes donated the school and the outhouse which served the school to the HFAHS. Steve noted that he’d had the school house property for some time, and it was important to him to preserve the building. He estimated that the school house was built sometime in the early 1900s.

“I wanted to keep it original, and not tear it down,” he said. His grandmother taught at the Oil Spring School, so by preserving the school, the Hawes’ were also preserving a piece of their family history. He said that when he was approached by Hasek about the HFAHS acquiring the school, he saw it as an opportunity to preserve some of the area’s heritage.

FINDS A HOME
After looking into some possible sites for the school, the Harpers Ferry native Martelle family provided land to the HFAHS. The school house has found its new home at the intersection of Vine and North Second Streets in Harpers Ferry, across from Tillinghast Park.

The Martelle family also has  personal ties to the Oil Spring School. Denise Thompson, daughter of James and Marlys Martelle, remembers her father telling stories of attending the Oil Spring School, including walking to school from the family farm.

“My dad would be so proud that the school sits on Martelle land,” Thompson said, adding “I know I am very proud.” Thompson said that one of her sons even did a school project on his grandfather and the Oil Spring School.

Marlys Martelle noted that her husband and his two sisters, Rita and Mary, attended the school in the 1940s, along with their cousins, the Saddlers. The HFAHS has printed up a brochure on the Oil Spring School, which features a class picture of the Martelle children and the Saddler children, along with their teacher, Alice Evanson.
“The kids and I are very glad to have consented to letting them use the land for the school,” Martelle said. She’s glad to see the school situated in town now, and hopes that it can benefit younger generations by allowing them to see how the country schools worked. She noted that she attended country school in Lafayette Township, in the Wexford area.

MOVING HISTORY
The work for the big move began in early November, with the pouring of a concrete foundation by Kelly Concrete. Hasek credits Pat Cota with being a sort of general contractor on this project and coordinating all of the different contractors and work efforts. “We couldn’t have done this without him,” she said.

The entrance to the school was moved separately from the main building by Pat Cota, Bill Nation and Wayne Hasek. Heritage Movers LLC from Mt. Hope, WI moved the actual building structure. November 21 the school building was moved approximately 2.4 miles from its previous location to Harpers Ferry. The building was brought down the Great River Road and then across an alfalfa field to its current location.

Hasek also noted that the City of Harpers Ferry waived the fees for bringing in the structure and that the Croell company “gave us a break” on its concrete price. Ashbacher’s Building Supply provided lumber for the project. “Everyone has been very generous,” Hasek said, adding that the Heritage Society is thankful for all the donations and time and effort everyone has put into this project.

RESTORATION PHASE
The second phase will be to restore the school and add furnishings that would be appropriate for the time period between the 1930s and 1950s. Jane and Wayne Hasek attended a conference of the Midwest Preservation Society that gave them a lot of valuable information and resources. The Heritage Society has also toured rural schools in Allamakee and Clayton counties.

“We’ve come up with a questionnaire for people who went to country schools,” Jane said. The questionnaire deals with the daily routines and responsibilities of students and teachers in the country schools, as well as memories about favorite teachers, accidents or incidents, favorite subjects, etc. The memories of those former country school students can give an even better window into that time period. From their site visits and talking with others, the HFAHS have compiled a “wish list” of items that will fit with their determined time period in the school.

Hasek said they hope in the future to be able to work with local schools and be able to expose today’s youth to what school would have been like at these one-room country schools. There are many possibilities, including holding an old-fashioned spelling bee or having a living history exhibit where there are actors portraying a school day. The HFAHS has already held other living history events, such as cemetery walks, to share the area’s history.

FINAL PHASE
Hasek noted that the third phase of their project is to add a facility where they can display other historical items in their collection. The Heritage Society has been collecting stories and artifacts about the Harpers Ferry area, and has scanned in a large number of historical photos. The group received a USDA Grant, which they used to set up a website, harpersferryheritage.org.

Anyone who is interested in donating to the Oil Spring School project or the Heritage Society, or who has information they would like to share with the group is asked to contact Jane Hasek at 319-240-2460.