First Webster City Schoolhouses
By Martin E. Nass
Transcribed for the IAGenWeb Project by Janelle Martin, with permission of Martin "Ed" Nass.
From the beginnings of Newcastle, school was conducted for the village
children in the pioneer cabins. The Stanley cabin, located on the
northwest corner of the present First and Superior Streets, was the
first school mentioned in our history in 1851. The next year classes
were held in the Wheeler cabin, whose location is lost to history. In
1856, the town realized the necessity of providing a school. A log cabin
was constructed in the middle of the 500 block of what was later to be
Division Street. It was used as a school, for church services, social
activities, and a town hall. Nathan Hathway was hired as the first
schoolteacher in Newcastle.
In 1857, Newcastle's name was changed to Webster City. The July 23, 1857
edition of the Hamilton Freeman reported "We learn that a meeting will
be held in our village school house, Thursday evening, to adopt measures
for protection against horse thieves…"
This one-room school was not large enough to accommodate the growing
community. In June, 1859, the school board let a contract to W. S.
Worthington to build a new school house. The building was to be
completed in 1861. In the meantime the old log school continued to serve
the educational purposes.Specifications for the new structure, pictured
in this article, included a brick building, two stories high, and
measuring 32 X 54 feet. Each first floor classroom measured 32 x 27
feet. Two new teachers, John A. Cooper and his wife Laura, were hired to
operate the school. Mr. Cooper taught the advanced pupils in the south
room, and Mrs. Cooper taught the primary department in the north room.
The second floor was one large assembly room. This building was located
on the site later occupied by North High School from 1882 to 1922 and by
Central (later named Washington Central) from 1922 to 1998, and finally
by the Webster City Middle School today. John Cooper was paid $105 for
the year and his wife, Laura, received only $60 for her salary. (Not
many in Webster City today would be content with that salary.)
The second floor of the building was not equipped for classrooms but was
used for town meetings, social gatherings, and an assembly hall. A front
portion which was 16 X 16 feet enclosed the stairs to the second floor
room and to a third floor, which was located in only this portion of the
building and housed the school offices and later housed the first school
bell.
Classes in this building commenced in the winter of 1861-62. The
February 1, 1862, Hamilton Freeman noted that, "A fine lot of school
books has just arrived, and are for sale cheap at the Post Office." It
should be noted that the post office was then located in the L. L. Estes
Drug Store at the northwest corner of Seneca and Bank Streets.
At a later time, due to the growing community, it became necessary to
have a primary department and an intermediate department on the first
floor. Mrs. Cooper continued with the primary and was assisted by Sue
Hillock. Elizabeth Hillock taught the intermediate classes. The students
finishing Eighth Grade were promoted "upstairs" with Watson J. Covil as
the first advanced teacher. The November 12, 1864 Freeman reported,
"W. J. Covil resigned due to ill health and D. D. Miracle took his place."
Mrs. Eva Pray Frank, a pupil during Mr. Miracle's tenure, reported in a
letter that Miracle gave an exhibition at the close of the term to start
a fund to buy a bell for the school. "People came and paid to hear their
children speak pieces and sing songs." This raised enough money for the
bell, which some believe was obtained in Fort Dodge from the Charlie
Rogers steamboat. It later hung in a special bell tower constructed
under the direction of Bessie Lyon, a long time and beloved history
teacher.
By 1865 the number of students increased so much there was no longer
room for all of them in the school. The district reported in the
September 17, 1865, edition that "the number of children between the
ages of five and twenty-one is something over two hundred." By 1870 the
Freeman reported that children younger than 5 years could no longer
attend. To relieve the crowded conditions, and to provide for a proper
advance class, Mr. Henry Brown opened a "select" school in Funk's Hall
on Seneca. In 1871, a cry for more room was heard, so the school board
opened an east side school, called Hoboken, which had 38 pupils, South
Building where Miss Ella Arthur taught 43 students, and Brick Building
(it was later named Union School) had 63 in the primary department and
Miss Nancy Willis had 86 in the grammar department.
In September, 1875, Professor Frank A. Baldwin, a Dartmouth graduate,
opened his Academy in a two-story frame building, which was located
about where the Fuller Hall swimming pool is now being constructed. He
offered a classical education for the advanced student teaching Latin,
Greek, German and bookkeeping. He soon became discouraged about the
financial prospects for his school. The school board took over the
school and hired him to teach the high school classes.
In 1877 Mr. Ed Burgess, later the librarian at Kendall Young Library,
became principal and taught mathematics. The first class to graduate
from Webster City High School were educated in this building and
finished in the spring of 1881. There were only four graduates in this
first class, all girls. They were Nora Thompson, Anna Parker, and Sumler
Willson's two daughters, Clara and Teressa. The commencement exercises
were held in the Congregational Church. Teressa Willson was the
Valedictorian.
Someone once asked me if Webster City fielded a football team in its
beginnings. When I checked the graduate listings I found that the Class
of 1881 had four, all girls. The Class of 1882 had only two girls; the
Class of 1883 had only six, again all girls; and the class of 1884 had
only nine, still all girls. Many of the boys quit school in those days
to farm, go into business, or on to other work. The Class of 1893 still
had graduated only three boys.
This first school building was torn down in 1882 when North High School
was constucted on the same site. During construction school classes were
held all over town where there was available space. Classes were held in
most church basements, the Town Hall on Seneca Street, and the courthouse.
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