Country School Building Auctions
School Houses For Sale
The school houses in Districts 1, 2 and 4, Washington township, will be offered for sale at public auction, for cash in hand, on Saturday, November 22nd.New school houses have been built in these districts and are all nearly completed. It is expected that they will be ready for use in a few weeks.
--The Grundy County Dispatch (Grundy Center, Iowa), 19 November 1919, pg 1
Will Sell Four Rural Schools
Four Shiloh township rural schools will be offered for sale at auction on August 12th. This decision was made at a meeting of the Shiloh Township school board held at Wellsburg last night at Dist. No. 7 school.The sale will start at 10 a.m. School No. 7 will be sold first and then No. 8 will go on the block after which there will be an adjournment until 1:30 in the afternoon when schools No. 9 and 4 will be sold. Ben Peters & Son will be the auctioneers.
Under the law the county superintendent must appoint a board of appraisers to fix a price on each of the properties. They cannot be sold under the price set by the board. Supt. Morris appointed the following men as members of the board of appraisers: George Lindaman, Albert Geerdes of Wellsburg and John M. Bakker of Steamboat Rock. W. J. Janssen was named as alternate to replace any of the 3 men who may be unable to serve.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 July 1948, pg 1
Two More Rural School Houses At Public Auction
Two more rural school houses in Grundy county will be sold at public auction for other purposes than for which they were built. One of the two buildings has been vacant for 15 years and there is no prospect that it will ever be needed again for educational purposes.One of the buildings in District No. 2, Washington township, has not been in use for fifteen years. This building is located two miles east and one mile north of Grundy Center. Sidney Sperry is president of the school board in that district and Mrs. Donald Henry is secretary. The school boards have been maintained since the school closed as they were before.
The other school that will be sold at auction is in Washington No. 4. That building is a mile east and two miles south of Grundy Center. That school has not been in operation for five years.
The boys and girls from those two school districts have been attending the school in Grundy Center and since bus routes were established they are transported to school daily in buses.
Both of these buildings will be sold during the afternoon of Mar. 29th.
Land Goes Back to Former Farm
The land on which these school houses are located was donated for school purposes by the owners of the land at the time the school districts were established. The record of transfer of this property provided that in event the land would no longer be used for school purposes that it be returned without compensation to the owner of the land who donated it for school purposes. Those who gave the land for use as a schoolsite are no longer living. Their heirs, if they still own the land adjoining the school, will get the school land back. The same applies to another who may now own the land.
Appraisers Will Fix Minimum Price for Which Buildings Can Be Sold
A board of three appraisers will be appointed to set the value of the two school properties. The property can't be sold for less than the amount for which it will be appraised. The appraising board will be appointed by the county superintendent.
The school house in District No. 2 was built in 1883. The land on which the school house was built was part of the farm owned by R. T. Miller. After the school house is removed the land will go back to the present owners of the adjoining land. The adjoining farm is now owned by the Edwin N. Faber Estate from Marshalltown.
John Calderwood Will Get Land In District No. 4
J. B. Calderwood now owns the farm in District No. 4 from which land was taken 70 years ago to build a school house. The land at that time was owned by E. H. Allison, former Grundy Center postmaster, who donated the site for school purposes with the provision that it would revert back to the farm when the land was no longer used for the purpose for which it was given.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 12 March 1953, pg 1
Rural School Buildings To Be Sold At Auction
In the advertising section of this week's Herald are advertised the buildings and equipment of the school districts that came into the Wellsburg Consolidated School district. The auction sale is to be held on Jan. 4 and 5 and includes the following districts.Jan. 4--Melrose No. 2 known as the Murdock school, Shiloh No. 6 known as the John Stoehr school, Shiloh No. 1 known as the Old Dick Miller school, Colfax No. 3 known as the Henry Aalfs school, Colfax No. 4 known as the J. P. Meyer school.
Jan. 5--Shiloh No. 2 known as the Cooper school, Shiloh No. 3 known as the Dickie DeNeui school, Pleasant Valley No. 9 known as the Sietsema school, German No. 7 known as the Aukes school.
These buildings and equipment are being sold by the board of the Wellsburg Consolidated School district at public auction. Ben Peters and Son are the auctioneers.
--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 31 December 1953, pg 1
School Buildings Sold
The auction sale of nine school buildings within the Consolidated Wellsburg School District was held Monday and Tuesday of this week.At the sale Monday John Murdock bought the building in Melrose No. 2 for $300. Shiloh No. 6 building was sold to Ben Wumkes for $270. Shiloh No. 1 building went to Joe Nederhoff for $280. Colfax No. 3 to Bert Harrenstein for $360. Colfax No. 4 to Bill Schmidt for $350.
On Tuesday four more school buildings were sold at auction. Shiloh No. 2 was sold to Ben Wiarda for $355. Shiloh No. 3 went to Dickie DeNeui for $400. Ben Wumkes purchased Pleasant Valley No. 9 for $505 and German No. 7 was sold to Asa Slifer for $435.
--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 7 January 1954, pg 1
Grundy School Board Accepts Bids For Six of Ten School Buildings
Bids for the 10 rural school houses and sites in the Community School District of Grundy Center, were opened by the board of education Monday evening.The offers made for six of the school houses were accepted by the board of education. Bids on three of the school houses will be held pending further inspection by the board members to determine whether or not the bids should be considered high enough to be accepted by the community school. No bid was received on one of the school buildings listed for sale.
Several bids on the school buildings were made with the provision that the bids would be valid only in case the school house site could be purchased by the buyer of the building.
Under the present law, the owners of the property from which the school house site was originally taken have the first opportunity to purchase the site. In some cases the present owners of the property submitted a bid. In other cases no bid was received from the adjoining property owners. But before the sale of the property can be made, the original land owners or their heirs or present owners of the property must be given the opportunity to purchase or decline to purchase the school site property at its appraised value.
Further complicating the sale of the property is the fact that several deeds of record had a reversionary clause in the original grant, to the effect that the school house site, when it ceased to be a school, should revert back to the present owners of the original land, by their paying the original amount paid by the school district for the property.
Bids for the school houses, that were accepted by the board of education Monday evening are as follows:
Lincoln No. 4 - Grace Steinmeyer, $900 for building and schoolhouse site. However, bid subject to release of adjacent property owner, Rev. Oliver Stevenson.
Lincoln No. 8 - Ralph Baily, $405 for building, they having the prior opportunity buy the site at its appraised value.
Palermo No. 3 - Herman Beenken, $450, with amount for site to be determined at appraised value.
Palermo No. 6 - Albert Mein, $175 for school house and shed; site subject to landowners option to purchase.
Palermo No. 7 - Ben Grimmius, Jr., $197, for school house and other building; site subject to land owners option to purchase.
Melrose No. 6 - Herman Beenken, $650 for building. Ernest and Leon Hoffa have landowners' reversionary right to site, for which they submitted a bid.
Bids were held temporarily by the board, subject to an inspection of the building, in the following school districts.
Palermo No. 8 - Bids received on the school house; site sold to Forrest and Alberta Meyers
Palermo No. 9 - Bid received on building; school house site to Mary Moeller, under reversionary deed; the bid on the site from her was accepted.
Lincoln No. 9 - Bids received on the school house; bid under reversionary clause on site by Luitjen Zingg and for outdoor toilets accepted
Palermo No. 10 - No bid received on school house; bid received on school house site only
As the condition of each school varies and is a factor in determining its worth, in cases where the bids submitted appeared to be low, the school houses will be further examined by members of the board of education to determine whether or not a fair bid has been received, or whether or not it would be advisable to put the buildings up for public auction, rather than selling them through sealed bids.
Those who have submitted bids will be advised of the action of the board of education within a reasonable length of time.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 5 August 1954, pg 1
Grundy Center To Auction Final Three Rural Schools In District
The Grundy Center Community School District's board of education will auction the three remaining unsold rural schoolhouses in the district Thursday and Friday, Aug. 19 and 20.Also going on the block at the same time will be the contents of six other rural schools in addition to these three.
The three are Lincoln No. 4 and Palermo No. 8 and 10, the last of 10 rural schools available for sale within the district because of the recent reorganization.
Contents of these three and Lincoln No. 8, Melrose No. 6 and Palermo No. 3, 6, 7, and 9 will also be sold at the same time. The "contents" include desks, blackboards, tables and books.
The auction schedule goes as follows:
Thursday afternoon, Aug. 19--
Lincoln No. 8, 1 p.m.; Lincoln No. 4, 2 p.m.; Palermo No. 3, 3:30 p.m.; Palermo No. 6, 4:30 p.m., and Palermo No. 7, 5 p.m.
Friday morning, Aug. 20--
Palermo No. 8, 8:30 a.m.; Palermo No. 9, 9:30 a.m.; Palermo No. 10, 10:30 a.m., and Melrose No. 6, 11:30 a.m.
The buildings and contents will be sold to the highest bidder, with the terms cash.
Two Other Buildings Sold By Board
Two more of the 10 original school buildings were sold the past week by the board of directors.
Albert Mein was given possession of Palermo No. 9 schoolhouse for $275, and James Taft was sold Lincoln No. 9 for $400.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 12 August 1954, pg 1
Grundy School District Sold Last of Rural School Property
The Grundy Community School District disposed of the last of the rural school property at auction sales held Thursday and Friday last week. Rev. Oliver Stevenson of Cedar Falls bought Lincoln No. 4 for $650. Forrest Meyers purchased Palermo No. 8 Friday morning for a price of $213, and Leon Bockes bought Palermo No. 10 for $365. The sale price of these buildings also included the furnaces.The contents of all the country schoolhouses was sold for a total of $186.90. The district board had stripped some of the buildings of good desks and other items that can be used in the schools in town.
--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 26 August 1954, pg 1
Rural School Bldgs. To Sell At Auction
In the advertising section of this week's Herald are advertised the buildings and equipment of the school districts that came into the Wellsburg Community School district. The auction sale is to be held on Tuesday, September 28, 1954 commencing at 1:30 p.m.It includes the following districts:
Pleasant Valley No. 8, German No. 6 and German No. 5. These buildings and fixtures are being sold by the board of directors of the Community School District of Wellsburg at public auction. Ben Peters will be auctioneer.
--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 23 September 1954, pg 1
Rural School Buildings Sold At Auction Tuesday This Week
The Pleasant Valley No. 8 school house, and German No. 5 and 6 rural school houses and equipment and fixtures were sold at public auction on Tuesday afternoon by the board of directors of the Community School District of Wellsburg. Ben Peters was auctioneer.Pleasant Valley No. 8 was purchased by Bob Renken for an amount a little over $500. German No. 5 was purchased by German township for $215 and will be used as a community center. German No. 6 was purchased by Koert Eilderts for a little over $300.
The expenses of the sale will be deducted from the total receipts of the sale. The balance will be distributed between Ackley, Aplington and Wellsburg as the interests of each of the districts appear by reason of the area going to each of the particular districts.
--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 30 September 1954, pg 1
The old school house, located five and a half miles north of Wellsburg, is being moved by Koert Eildert to his farm on Highway 20 a mile east of Ackley.
--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 7 November 1963, pg 1