Hollingshead School No. 3

Franklin Township, Decatur County, Iowa
 
 Hollingshead No. 3 School, Franklin Township, received its name when in the 1880's a Mr. Hollingshead donated one acre of land for the purpose of establishing a rural school. This school still [1980] stands on land owned by O. & W. Ag. Enterprise, Inc., and the O'Hairs use it for storage. Hollingshead School closed at the end of the first semester in January of 1959. The pupils and their teacher, Mrs. Ruth McGahuey, were incorporated into the Weldon School at this time.

Many memories remain of the fun times at box suppers and PTA meetings when even the adults entertained. The school was used for a home a short time when Mr. and Mrs. Jesse O'Hair lost their home (across the road from the school) to a fire. There were just a few students and only several weeks of the spring term remaining so school was held in the J. A. O'Hair home. By the time the fall term arrived, Jesse and Violet had their new home constructed so school went on as usual.

. . . In the winter of l936, the train from Van Wert derailed on the crossing on Highway 69. The snow along the highway had been pushed out, and the drifts were at least ten feet high. The V-blade snowplow had made many tries to clear the road. The snow became packed between the rails on the highway crossing, causing the train to derail. Two engines derailed, one turning over and the other tipped. . . The big drive wheels went in as deep as the axle and froze in the ground. A huge derrick on a steam engine came in to right the train. The crew built a track from the engine back to the regular track and with a series of wedges pulled the engine back a bit at a time. Pupils at Hollingshead School were allowed to go to the track and watch as the train was righted, and it was something they did not forget.

Some of the teachers at Hollingshead School were: Neva Kelley Jamison, 1917-1919; Lillian Houck Jones, 1923-1925; Ethel Bulkeley, 1920-1921; Ethel B. Leffler, 1925-1928; Mabel Stover Garton, 1921-l923; Mary Delk, 1928-1928; Delma Euritt, 1936-1937; Leona Gardner, 1930-1931; Betty Cochran Redman, 1937-1938; Harold Fuller, 1940-1941; Mrs. Louis G. Brolin, Corrine Hamaker, Virginia Bethards, Aletha Newman, Ruth McGahuey, Leota Johnson, Ruth Rodgers, Annabelle (Driscoll) Flynn.

Hollingshead School shared the music teacher with the Popcorn School.

~ "A Century of Memories of Van Wert, Iowa: 1880 - 1980"
 

1945
Gary Saylor, Claude Pierson, Roy Curry, Watson, Shirvers, O'Hair, Neva Jamison    
  
Original page created by Sharon Becker 2013, updated 2015; reformatted by Conni McDaniel Hall Oct 2019.
 
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