Cobblestone School - Absarokee, MT - Montana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

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Cobblestone School - Absarokee, MT

in Montana Historical Markers

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 621387 N 5041528

Designed by an engineer and built of local materials by volunteers, Absarokee's old Cobblestone School served as the town's high school until its closing in 1990. It was preceded by the Sandstone School, built in 1910.

First there was the nearby Sandstone School, built in 1910 as a primary school. It consists of a one story, hip roofed building of rusticated sandstone blocks, originally enclosing two classrooms. In 1915 it was doubled in size, using sympathetic materials and methods, changing only its size and not its appearance. The only other major change occurred in the 1970s when the west entrance was replaced with a steel door and transom. As of 1986 the interior remained almost totally intact, the only real change being the addition of dropped ceilings, with the ceilings above remaining intact. Though the original section of the building was likely built to plans of their own devising by local craftsmen, the design for the addition has been credited to Dominick Rosner, an architect working in the area before establishing a carpentry shop in Columbus. With all new buildings in place, we assume that this school was closed as a school at the same time as the Cobblestone School, 1990.

The Cobblestone School was built in 1921 to a design by W. R. Plew, an engineer at Bozeman's Montana State University. At this time Plew had extensive experience in the design of one and two room rural schools. Absarokee residents picked rocks from Rosebud Creek and volunteers mortared them together, the result being a school. Serving grades 9 to 12, the school was the only one in the southern portion of Stillwater County for many years, graduating about 10 students per year, students coming from as far as 45 miles away, boarding with Absarokee families in the winter. The only real change this building has undergone is the replacement of the windows.

Though the plaque at the schools is entitled simply "Cobblestone School", the entry on the National Register of Historic Places page is entitled "Sandstone and Cobblestone Schools", as is the Nomination Form. The text on the plaques includes the Sandstone School, leading us to assume that both are still included in the registration.

The opening of the Crow Indian Reservation to homesteaders brought settlers to this area who founded the town of Absarokee in 1893. School District #52 was created and by 1903, a log cabin with a potbelly stove served the town’s first children. In 1910, the nearby two-room Sandstone School was built for elementary students, but as the town grew, it soon had need of a high school. Although Absarokee’s high school district was the smallest in the state, the town had high hopes and great determination. Residents joined forces holding dances, bazaars, and bake sales to raise funds. A $20,000 bond issue was established and the work progressed. With cobbles gathered from nearby fields and riverbeds, the school was built on donated land with volunteer labor. W. R. Plew, an engineer at Montana State University at Bozeman who promoted appropriate designs in rural schools, is credited with the plans. Finished in 1921, the Cobblestone School was fully accredited with three full-time teachers. The first five students graduated in the spring of 1922. Pupils came from as far away as Limestone and Nye, 45 miles distant, boarding with local families during the winter months. An outstanding example of a simple school built with locally available materials, the building remained in use as a high school until 1990. Most of its original woodwork and fixtures remain intact. The Cobblestone School and its companion Sandstone School are landmark examples of the importance of public education to rural communities and of Absarokee’s commitment to its children.
From the NRHP plaque at the school