SCHOOLHOUSES
Pope County School District 78
My dad and my grandmother attended school here. It was sometimes referred to (tongue in cheek) as "Holten University" for all of the Holten family children who attended. The school was organized on May 23, 1892. In December, 1897, W.J. & Indiana M. Carson sold one acre for $1 in the SE corner of SE 1/4, NW 1/4 of Section 8, Chippewa Falls Township, Pope County, Minnesota. On account of road work in 1922 the building was moved bak a few rods and full basement was built. The school closed in the 1940's. (researching the date) The contents, building and land were auctioned off. I believe my dad bought one of the slate blackboards and it hung in our kitchen. We used it for phone messages, shopping lists, drawing pictures and many, many games of "hangman." The file on the school at the Pope County Museum has minutes from a meeting at which a motion was made to sell the school swing set to my dad for $10. I have eleven siblings and I'm sure we all spent many days in the two swings, the "trapeze bar" and the slide! When my older brother and I decided to take it apart we nearly severed his finger when a piece fell prematurely. Yikes! ~ Merlin Peterson
Love this old school....and how it still stands through winds and other weather events. My mother in law, Cora Kittelson Eskelson, taught there after attending Normal School and before she married. ~ Ann Hesse-Eskelson
Love this old school....and how it still stands through winds and other weather events. My mother in law, Cora Kittelson Eskelson, taught there after attending Normal School and before she married. ~ Ann Hesse-Eskelson
Near Sisseton, South Dakota
close to Fort Sisseton
Near Sisseton, South Dakota
These pictures were taken on April 18, 2014. I recently learned that this beautiful building burned to the ground on May 9, 2014. I'm thankful I was afforded the opportunity to capture this small piece of South Dakota history.