The school board is up against the real
thing. For a long time, the board has been considering the advisability
of giving to the several buildings a character by naming them with a
dignified name. Of course the high school is always “The High School”,
but in practically all towns and cities school buildings have been named
after men or women of local or general fame. Some are named after
presidents, some after men of letters, some after statesmen or great men
of military fame. And sometimes it is men and women of local reputation
who are honored by having buildings named after them. Mt. Pleasant has
three buildings which need dignified names. WILLOWBANK is a name that
signified nothing except that when it was built, there was a frog pond
and clump of willow trees on the north of it and to this day the school
is called the ‘FROG POND’ or WILLOWBANK school. Both the frog pond and
the willows have long since gone their way, but the old name clings.
WINONA is another name without significance. It is evidently an Indian
name, but what it means or why it was given to the building, no one
knows. CENTRAL is another name that has little significance or beauty to
it. The school stands in the center of the town, hence the name CENTRAL.
The Board is desirous of giving these buildings real dignified names.
Names that will be chiseled into the buildings and give them character.
But shall the buildings be named after presidents, historians,
statesmen, poets, warriors, martyrs, or have we Iowans or even Mt.
Pleasant men or women whom we might honor and by whom we would be
honored by naming the buildings.
++++++++++++++++
Mr. Bird says that we were in error as to the
original location of what was known as the FROG POND school. He says
that the old school building at the WILLOWBANK school and now used as a
wood shed, was built on the corner at the city limits where you turn
north to the Gass farm. In those days there was a regular frog pond
there, hence the name of the school. Later the school house was moved to
the present site of WILLOWBANK, which would be about two blocks west and
two blocks south. The school board will sell the old building this fall
and another old land mark will have disappeared.
[Excerpts from “The Bystanders Notes”, “Mt. Pleasant Weekly
News-Journal”, July 26 & 29, 1916]
Research Note, April 2021: In the 1870 Henry County Atlas, a
schoolhouse appears in the NE ¼ of Section 4, just outside the northern
border of the Mount Pleasant City limits and at the Section 3 line. The
adjoining property was owned by W. Bird. On April 1, 1871, the District
Twp of Center deeded this ½ acre to the Mt. Pleasant Independent School
District. The present day location is the NW corner of the Winfield
Avenue/Palm Avenue intersection. This was most likely the original
location of Mount Pleasant’s FROG POND SCHOOL, as referenced in the news
articles.
Click on map for larger view. |