Eidsvold School History

[Note: This is a transcription by Paul Forster of an article and photos that appeared in The Thorp Courier (Number 19) dated Thursday, March 28, 1991. Paul is the son of “Roy Forester/Ray Forster” mentioned in the article as a Board Member.]

Eidsvold State Graded School Building Remains a Town Landmark

It was shortly before Thorp became a village. There were several areas in Clark county where people gathered to find relaxation, and small towns began to form in those areas.

One of those towns still appears on the plat maps of the Town of Thorp. It is the town of Eidsvold, which at one time had its own post office, train depot and other important sites.

The Eidsvold School was one of those sites. During the course of its history it grew like Eidsvold itself, eventually becoming a state graded school, before the town faded, and took the school with it. It wound down to a standard school for its last few years before it closed.

Early History

A major historian of the Eidsvold area was Jim Clark. Clark provided histories of the area for a booklet called “Stories of Clark County Written in the Bicentennial Year.” At the time, he was a resident of Maple Plain, Minnesota.

He also sent the Thorp Courier a photograph which was run as a “Way Back When” on December 30, 1976. Accompanying the picture of the class of 1894 (which we can’t duplicate), is a letter, which describes the early years of the school. Here are parts of that letter, which was brought to our attention by Mrs. George Smasal, of Stanley:

“In the year of 1877 School District No. 1 of Thorp was divided and District No. 2 was formed. The new district included all of the western half of the town, three miles west of Thorp and about a city block west and south of what is now (in 1976) Hill Top Tavern. A log building was constructed, the first term of school began in November 1877, the teacher was Miss Anna Jerard, later Mrs. Mike McCaffrey who was one of the early settlers in this area. There were nine pupils, Frank Story, Jeanette Jerard, William Francis, Matt Story, Elmer Warner, Bill Warner, Elijah Warner, Mittie Warner and Abi Warner.

“…I remember the building (an old log, one-room schoolhouse) being there yet when I was a boy, it was occupied as a dwelling by a widow lady and her two sons, Jim and John Kelly.”

He also noted that the teacher in 1890 was Mary E. Boylan.

Clark gave a letter from original student Bill Warner to Clark, and it found its way into the “Stories of Clark Co., (etc.)”. That letter mentions that S. S. Warner of Thorp was a member of the School Board for 18 years; first as a clerk and later as treasurer. The late William Jerard was also a Board member for years.

Eidsvold became a village, and soon outgrew the log school house, according to Warner, who reported that the mill company offered the district a site where the present school is located.

Warner wrote that Boylan was the last teacher in the log school, and that Miss Marian Gwin was the first teacher of the new building, which was necessary despite the Eidsvold district again breaking up and forming the Roger Creek School a few years earlier.

School Board Members

We are next able to pick up the history of the Eidsvold School in the year 1924, where we are able to find the census reports and Clark County Directory of Schools which provide the names of Board Members. The Board at Eidsvold was very stable through the years.

Between 1924 and 1960, when the school was closed, there were three treasurers on the Board. Joe Flore served from prior to 1924 until 1926. Then Ed Western served from 1926 until the end of the term in 1936. In 1936, Mrs. Muriel Bivans took over, and she served until the school closed in 1960.

Muriel Bivans has passed away, but her 86-year old husband Loran still mows the lawn on the grounds of what used to be Eidsvold School.

The (sic) were only four people who served as director during the last 36 years of the school. Frank Baker served the longest, from 1924 until 1945, when Roy Forester took over. (Forester may be Ray Forster, who was listed as clerk from 1937-1939). Forester served until 1948, and was replaced by Paul Cukla until 1952. Robert Kingery was the director from 1952 until the 1960 consolidation.

Only two persons served extended terms as Clerk. They were William Endvick, who served from 1924 until sometime in the mid- to late-1920’s when William Hagen took the post briefly. He was replaced by Endvick again, who served until 1936.

The other person who served an extensive term was Arthur Evenson, who served from 1941 until 1957. Other Clerks included Forster, Tora Boardman, from 1939 to 1941, Garnet W. Smith during the 1957-58 school year, and William Thill, who served from ’58 until consolidation.
 

Teachers

Thanks to Betty Boardman (Mrs. George Smasal), we have a list of a few of the teachers before 1933. More specifically, we know that Mr. Thomas Barber taught in 1900. We also know that between about 1915 and 1923, the teachers included the following:

Sadie Crowley, Margarite Crowley, Irma Mertens, Bertha Van Loo, Myrtle King, Marian Katt (who was to return to teaching at the school many years later), Etta McLeod, Miss Becker and Miss Paulson.

Because the school was a State graded school for much of its existence, it was a two room school. The first teacher listed in the County Directory was considered the “Principal”. The Principal had administrative duties, and the four older grades, while the “Primary” teacher was responsible for the first four grades.

Eidsvold School Today

Many of the buildings that we have covered in this series have been demolished by man or nature, or they are being left to decay where they stand. The Eidsvold State Graded School is different, it has found another life.
It was taken over by Donald C. Halterman, who converted it into the Stanley Truck Sales and Wrecking Yards, otherwise known as the Halterman Truck Sales and Wrecking Yards. It is plainly visible on CTH X, just west of the North Fork Bridge.

Next Feature:

Our next feature will be on the Bi-Centennial School. The spelling was taken from a plat book of the 1940’s and 50’s, which inserted the hyphen. This school was very close to the City of Thorp, at just one mile west and half a mile north of the city.

If you have any information, or pictures, of the Bi-Centennial School, please contact us here at the Courier, and we will try to use it in our feature article.