One-room schoolhouses were once a defining aspect of life in rural America. During their heyday, nearly 200,000 of them dotted the landscapes across the Great Plains, but now it is estimated that there are less than 400 remaining, relics of a distant past. Walsh County District No. 70 is among the last surviving one-room schoolhouses in the country.

Built in 1885, the country school building for District No. 70, locally known as Hoff School, is typical of many one-room school buildings. The small-wood framed structure welcomed students, most likely farm children, each fall. Situated near the boundary line between Norton and Vesta townships, the school was tucked into a belt of natural timber land, not far from the north branch of the Forest River. One teacher, typically a young, single woman, was responsible for educating the students in grades one through eight.

In a manner similar to rural churches, the independent country school was the focal point in Hoff Township. As the number of school-aged students increased, the need for larger, more centralized schools became apparent. By the time Hoff School closed in 1960, most one-room schools had been slowly disappearing from the land. But the last bell wasn’t the end for this schoolhouse.

Thanks to the efforts of neighboring residents, this country school has been immaculately maintained and contains a virtually intact interior complete with artifacts, collections, and memorabilia associated with the educational practices of early-twentieth-century country school education. Today, the school conjures a sort of nostalgia for a simpler life, the images of kids arriving at school on horseback, taking spins on the merry-go-round, and playing baseball out front play out in the minds of visitors. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, Hoff School retains its sense of local importance as a unifying institution and a landmark place in the rural landscape of North Dakota.