For further information
contact us at: 320-274-8489,
e-mail pioneerp@lakedalelink.net or fax
320-274-9612.
 |
 |
This is the
one-room schoolhouse from Albion Township, south of
Annandale. It was built in 1902 and used until
1970. All 8 grades were educated in this one room,
with the smaller, younger children in front near the
teacher. Boys and girls usually sat on different
sides of the room. Students learned Bible verses;
poems, historical epic, famous writings, and numerous
facts that they were then called on to recite orally from
the recitation bench up front.
A
pot-bellied stove was originally used, with students
supplying the logs for the fire. In more recent
years, electricity and oil burning stoves were installed.
These were left in the building to show transition
through the years. Rest-room facilities were
primitive, just like home, except here the boys and girls
separate outhouses behind the building. The
wash
3) One
Room Schoolhouse
Country
schools in Minnesota were well respected for the
education they provided. At one time there were
nearly 5,000 one-room schoolhouses in the state. At
the end of the eighth grade year, a stiff State Board
examination was given. Pupils who passed
participated in graduation ceremonies, usually wearing
new clothes ad reciting something important like the
Gettysburg Address. Few farm children had the
opportunity to go on to High School in town.
However, an 8th grade education was considered
quite satisfactory since all the basics had been
thoroughly covered.
A recent
addition to the schoolhouse is the Lotus Williams display
with her Annandale High School diploma. She was in
the first class to graduate. Her handmade
graduation dress is on display in the Millinery Shop.
Lotus, a retired teacher, spent her later years
painting and collecting stories of Annandale. Her
book, Memories of Annandale, is in the gift
shop.
room at the
front of the school holds a basin and towel. The
physical education department consists of the adjustable
bar, located in the doorframe in the back of the room,
where the children could practice chin-ups.
