LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA

Photo Old Letts School building.

The Letts School building sits silent now, as the school was closed by the Louisa-Muscatine School District when the new elementary building was built in 1993.

The first school in Letts was held in the summer of 1858 in a private home in the south end of town. The teacher was Miss Loretta House.

The 1860, a school building 28’x30’ was built in the same area, under School Director Benjamin Furnas.

A two-story brick building was built on the site west of the present school in 1878. It has three rooms, housing the primary, intermediate and high school students. There were three teachers and a janitor. (The janitor, Mrs. Blackwell, or “Mammy”, as she was called, was the only black person in town at this time.)

The existing Letts School building was constructed in 1918. In 1955, the school boasted 280 students. There were also three cooks.

On July 1, 1959, Letts, Fruitland, and Grandview joined to form the Louisa-Muscatine School District. Buildings at Letts and Grandview were used.

In 1962, the new high school was completed and occupied, at its Highway 61 location. The junior high joined the high school at this location in 1972.

The building is now owned by Dr. Albert Brown. Dr. Brown was unavailable for comment on future plans for the structure.

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Page created August 2, 2014 by Lynn McCleary

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