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Picture: First School in the Present Location; Taken in the spring of 1886
STANWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The first classes for public instruction in Stanwood were opened in 1869-’70 in the second floor room of the Methodist church, with Mr. John B. Ingersoll as teacher. The rent paid for this room was $4.00 per month.
The first building designed as a school was built in 1871, a one-story building 20’ by 30’ located on Lot 1 of Preston’s Addition. Clarifying this location for modern readers, this was one block south of the Chicago and Northwestern tracks just west of Highway #38. The school was organized as The Stanwood Independent School District.
The first board of directors of record were as follows: R. H. Crittenden, W. C. Maley, N. B. Anthony, W. B. Preston, F. B. Allen, with J. N. Smith as Secretary and David Bongardner as Treasurer.
Because the school had outgrown the first building, it was necessary in 1874 to build a larger one. A new site, the present school site, was purchased for $500.00, and a new, second-story building was erected for $4,000. J. M. Cowdry was the contractor.
At first only one room of this new building was used and the second floor was not entirely finished for some time. Hattie Little Carl was the teacher. After while the second floor was used for community affairs at a rental of $25 per year. The Grand Army of the Republic was one of the organizations that used it as their regular meeting place for years. It was a good sized room with a stage and dressing rooms.
In those early days a board fence extended around the school yard with turnstile gates at the corners. In 1880 the teacher was A. D. Claney, whose salary was $30 per month. In 1881 A. J. Davis was hired as instructor, at a yearly salary of $400. H. S. Hoyman was president of the school board at this time. In 1881 the second floor rooms were finished, and by 1888 the staff numbered three.
In 1898 the school well was drilled.
Stanwood High School graduated its first class in 1895. The graduates were as follows: Hattie Boling, Carrie Hoyman, Nellie George, Candace Somes, Maud McClellan, and Benjamin Spear.
The school building of 1874 was destroyed by fire in 1901. In September of that year the school district by vote of 106 to 5 passed a bond issue of $8,500 to buy additional land adjoining the existing site (Block 8, Maley’s Addition). . . .
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Pictures: McKinley Building completed in 1902; After the Fire in 1901
. . . While a new building was under construction, classes were held in the opera house for a rental of 30.00 per month.
With W. A. Fulkerson as the architect and Miller Brothers as the contractors, the new school building cost $11,500.00. Miller Brothers were later instructed to furnish the building for $800.00. This was the building now occupied by the junior high school, completed in 1902 and named for President McKinley who was then in office. It was used for all grades and the high school until 1920. In1906 a suitable portion of the school grounds was prepared for tennis and baseball. Cement sidewalks were laid in 1907, the wooden ones having worn out.
In minutes of October 10, 1911 we find this note of interest: “The smoking of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, in fact the uses of tobacco in any form by the students of the Stanwood Independent School District upon the school grounds or in any building be hereafter prohibited.”
The hot lunch program began in 1917, with the domestic science students preparing and serving the meal in a basement room. At first each pupil paid .08 for his meal, but before long the price went up to .10. An average of 120 pupils were served each day.
Special wiring for the electric bell system was done in 1917, and in the same year indoor restrooms were installed.
In 1920 the school board purchased land at the east side of the present junior high building and the present senior high building was constructed. Again, during the construction period classes met in the opera house and in the lecture room of the United Presbyterian church as well as in several old country school buildings that had been brought in. By this time, due to the inclusion of more rural school districts . . .
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Pictures: One of the First School Buses Supt Grimes at the Left;
Stage in Auditorium after Consolidation. Scene Painted by William Thiessen;
Community Band, both high school students and interested citizens, under the Direction of F. A. McCoy; performed at the Iowa State Fair in 1930’s
. . . thirteen horse-drawn buses were needed and a total of 146 pupils were transported. By contrast, in 1960 four motor-driven buses transported the same number of pupils.
About the time the high school building was ready for use records show that the library was made up of 1900 volumes.
As basketball seasons came and went, the discomfort of the spectators at the games became not only a topic of conversation, but of complaint. The spectators had to stand up and the space where they stood was so small that they were packed in like cattle. To relieve this situation, a balcony was built on the north side and west end of the gymnasium in 1929. It was of steel construction and provided for 300 people, seated. Balcony used.
By 1955 it had become evident that if the school was to meet the challenging demands of modern education it must have more space. A bond issued of $165,000.00 was passed, and in May 1956 work was begun on the construction of the addition which now houses the gymnasium with stage facilities, music room, practice rooms, lockers, industrial arts, and vocal, superintendent’s office, board room, and storage room. By the autumn of 1957 when these new facilities were put into use, the enrollment of Stanwood schools totaled 300 and its faculty numbered 17.
Stanwood High School did not neglect athletics although the small student body made competitive games with other schools impracticable until after consolidation. Baseball was played on the diamond north of the school building. The team in 1925 earning the title of State Champions in their class. During the 1920’s and ‘30’s there was a football team which used a corner of what is now Don Hart’s farm. Early girls’ basketball teams practiced on a dirt floor in the bus shed, approximately where Paul Gadke’s bus shed is now. The girls wore bloomer-type suits with long sleeves. No showers available. These teams made several appearances in the state tournaments, once being quarter-finalists, 1942. The early basketball teams traveled by train from Stanwood to play teams of other schools. Track was also an athletic event, adding its awards to the others.
Several music awards were won, among them many Division I ratings for state competition.
The Cedar County Superintendent’s records show the following administrators of the Stanwood schools:
| 1897 Prin., Arthur Wilson | 1926-32 Supt., F. A. McCoy |
| 1901-02 Prin., Frank Fowlie | 1932-35 Supt., N. E. Jones |
| 1903-06 Prin., P. S. Filer | 1935-37 Supt., L. F. Reicks |
| 1906-09 Prin., Paul Kruse | 1937-43 Supt., Frank D. White |
| 1909-11 Prin., E. M. Carson | 1943-45 Supt., R. S. Fleming |
| 1911-13 Sup., V. H. Ogburn | 1945-51 Supt., Paul Putnam |
| 1913-14 Supt., H. D. Taylor | 1951-53 Supt. Melville Meverden |
| 1915-17 Supt. H. W. Grimes | 1953-61 Supt., H. D. Hatfield |
| 1917-26 Supt., H. W. Christy | |
In 1960 a committee of Stanwood and Mechanicsville citizens was formed for the purpose of making a study of the possible school reorganization. As a result of this study, the proposal for merging the two schools was presented to the voters in May 1961, and passed. The high school students of the two schools, Stanwood and Mechanicsville, voted on the name, the school colors, the school song, and the mascot for the reorganized school.
Click here to view Stanwood High School List of Graduates 1920-1974
LINCOLN COMMUNITY SCHOOL
Lincoln Community School officially came into being July 1, 1961, with the following school board members: President, Carl Haesemeyer; secretary, Darlene Koering; treasurer, C. L. Paulson; Walter Ferguson, Joseph Gamble, Lawrence Kroemer, and Gorman Robinson. Leo H. Stahle was hired as the first superintendent of the community school and is still serving in that capacity.
One of the first procedures of the board was remodeling for additional classroom space. This included adding a celling to the old gym, which made a floor for three new class- . . .
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Picture: Lincoln School – 1969
. . . rooms on second floor. At a cost of $26,000, this work was completed before the opening of school.
On August 28, 1961, classes were called with an enrollment of 440 elementary pupils, 101 junior high, and 185 high school students. Kindergarten and grades one through six go to the Mechanicsville center, while the facilities of the Stanwood center provide for the junior and senior high.
For the school year 1968-69 enrollment is 453 elementary pupils, 126 junior high, and 210 senior high pupils, a total of 789. Fifty teachers make up the staff, while nine buses transport the students an approximate 550 miles each day.
The current high school curriculum at Lincoln is made up of 14 units in the communication department, 10 in business and commercial, 6 in mathematics, 5 in science, 5 ½ in social studies, 12 in practical arts, 4 ½ in fine arts, and 1 unit in health and physical education, including first aid. All requirements of the State Department of Public Instruction for accredited schools are being met.
Lincoln Community School offers many extra-curricular activities. They include football, wrestling, boys’ and girls’ track, baseball, softball, football, vocal and instrumental music, debate, drama, and speech. Boys’ basketball team advanced to the sub-state tournaments in 1964 and ’65. Several of the track teams have added conference trophies to the trophy case, as has the music department with division I rating. The speech department has placed in state tournaments. The 1968 football team was undefeated, with a 9-0 record. Future plans for sports include golf, tennis and other activities so that a larger percentage of the students may participate.
Click here to view Lincoln Community School List of Graduates 1975-1993
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Picture: Stanwood H. S. Baseball team State Champions 1925
Front row: Left to right, Everett Thomson, Ken Wilkins, Harlan Coppess, Ralph Yule, Bill Gardner and Wilfred Haesemeyer. Back row, Charles Thomson, Dick Thomson, Coach Erickson, Howard Hamilton and Willard Hoyman.
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Picture: Girls Basketball Team Quarter Finalist in 1942 State Tournament:
Front row: Left to right, Dorothy Young, Ruth Koering, Margaret Haesemeyer, Lorraine Lehrman, Mary Klahn and Doris Haesemeyer. Back Row, Marilyn Tenley, Charlene Fenton, Donna Lou Koch, Coach King, Norene Horr, Roberta Mahanna and Arle June Mixell
Picture of Stanwood Football Squad – 1924