DeBorgia Schoolhouse Bell - DeBorgia, MT - Bells on Waymarking.com

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DeBorgia Schoolhouse Bell - DeBorgia, MT

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Posted by:  T0SHEA

11T E 624677 N 5248510

The first school in the western end of Mineral county, the DeBorgia Schoolhouse, though no longer a school, still serves the community as a community hall.

From its completion in 1908 until school consolidation forced its closure in 1956, the DeBorgia Schoolhouse was the only "institute of learning" in the De Borgia area. The two story wood frame building was built with four class rooms, two on each floor. The hipped roof has a small dormer/belfry at the front over the entrance. In front of the school, resting on a stand of concrete blocks with a slate top is a 32" bell. We assume this to have been the school's bell though it is no longer in the belfry. Maybe it never was. The building appears to have been built on a rubblestone foundation which has been supplemented at some later date with concrete.

We are quite fortunate that the school is still with us, as The Great Fire of 1910, which burned not only De Borgia, but many other towns in Idaho and Montana, somehow spared the school, while claiming a total of 85 lives, 78 of them firefighters unable to escape the fast moving fire.

After the school closed it continued in use as a community hall, today hosting various events such as an annual ‘Hunters Dinner’ & Apple Pie Extravaganza and yard sales. Proceeds from events held at the centre are put towards maintenance of the facility. For many years the schoolhouse has been maintained by the DeBorgia Historic School House Foundation, a group of local women.

A Ripley’s Believe It or Not entry made note of the fact that Neil Stoughton attended the school from grades 1 through 8, taught by the same teacher in each grade. Most notable is the fact that he was the only student in his class the entire time.

DeBorgia Schoolhouse

The DeBorgia Schoolhouse was constructed in 1908 by a builder from the Mullan, Idaho area. There is no record of who the architect was.

The schoolhouse is a two-story wood framed building of a rectangular floor plan. The exterior is sheathed with clapboard siding and the windows are a double-hung sashed type. The roof is hipped. The front façade has a centered double door with a glass transom. The only ornamentation on the building is three placards above the front door that say: NO.7,PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1908. The front door is flanked by a window on either side. There are also two windows on the second story of the front of the building.

This non-ornate building was the- -first woad frame two-story structure built in what the locals call the "West End" of Mineral County. The great fire of 1910 destroyed the nearby communities of Haugan and Saltese. DeBorgia was totally burned except for the Schoolhouse and the Catholic Church. The church was torn down several years later. Today the DeBorgia Schoolhouse stands alone as a reminder of the past.

The school was used until 1956 for grades 1-8. Many people had stories to tell about its place in the region. During the teens of this century, Mr. Neil Stoughton enjoyed a curious distinction. He went from 1st grade to 8th grade as the only member of his class. Miss Winnery taught this young man for those eight years and was quite proud to have made Ripley's Believe It or Not. Many other past students still remember the Schoolhouse with fondness and feel that it is a cultural landmark that remains for them.
From the NRHP Nomination Form