PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The true test of weighing the educational interest manifested in any community is to carefully note the statistics of the same locality, relative to its public schools, hence in this connection will be given some vital facts, as gleaned from the county school superintendent of this county, the same being from his last annual report:
| School buildings | 134 |
| Ungraded schools | 120 |
| Graded schools | 8 |
| Sub-districts | 81 |
| Independent Districts | 40 |
| Make Teachers | 33 |
| Femake teachers | 127 |
| Pupils enrolled | 3,868 |
| Attendance | 2,400 |
| Wages paid males | $46 |
| Wages paid females | $35 |
| School months per year | 8 1/2 |
| Books in libraries | 5,226 |
The first school in Lyon County was taught by Mrs. D.C. Whitehead, at Rock Rapids, in the winter of 1870-71. Two years later the county contained seventeen good frame school buildings. At present the graded schools stand high and the country schools average with other Iowa counties.
In another part of this work will be found a valuable and interesting chapter on the schools of Lyon County, written by Prof. A.W. Grisell.