279 - Wamduska Square Schoolhouses

One-room schoolhouses were once a common feature of the Great Plains, dotting the countryside and providing rural children a basic education. The first schools were built out of readily available material. On the prairie of North Dakota, sod or, in more wooded areas, logs would have been used to construct the simple schoolhouses. Eventually, wood frames and even brick became the common mode of construction. Wood or coal burning stoves were used to heat the poorly insulated schoolhouses. One teacher, most often a young, single woman, was tasked with teaching farm children in grades one through eight in a small building on the prairie. Not only that, she also was responsible for arriving early to start the fire and handling the custodial duties. The restroom, of course, was outside, in an outhouse, and water was brought in by a pail from either the well or a neighboring farm. Still, students learned the basics: reading, spelling, math, history, geography, and handwriting.

Three one-room schools served Wamduska Township in Nelson County from the late 1880s to the late 1950s. All three are simple, wood framed schoolhouses that sat either on railroad ties or on a concrete block foundation. Originally built in 1888, Wamduska Schoolhouse No. 1 was located on the south shore of Stump Lake. It served as a school until 1920 when it was expanded. Education would continue in that part of the township from 1921 to 1958, during which time it was also used as a Township Hall. Wamduska Schoolhouse No. 2, a landmark along North Dakota Highway 1, was built in 1898 and was the original school at Wamduska Square. Schoolhouse No. 3 was built in 1914 three miles east of Wamduska Square. The three schools consolidated in 1958. In the early 2000s, Schoolhouses No. 1 and No. 3 were moved to Wamduska Square.

Les Ferry, a Nelson County native, has had a special connection to the schools in Wamduska township since he was a boy when his parents provided room and board for his teachers at the one-room Wamduska School #2 near the northeast shore of Stump Lake. With a soft spot for the deteriorating little white schoolhouses, Les committed to not only saving the schools, but restoring, preserving, and sharing their rich history. The schools, with their red brick chimneys and desks, books, and equipment, are now a treasure trove of history, not only of the schools, but of the local government.