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
Remnants of ancient Indian trails, the Mullan Trail, the Milwaukee and Northern Pacific Railroads, and old Highway 10 are scattered across the narrow mountain corridor, where this schoolhouse was constructed in 1908. The few remains are evidence of the traffic that once used these historic transportation routes. The DeBorgia Schoolhouse was the first two-story frame building in the West End of Mineral County, built to serve the children of local valley residents. Two years later in 1910, the turn-of-the-century community of DeBorgia, along with the neighboring settlements of Haugan and Saltese, fell victim to a horrendous forest fire. This schoolhouse is the only building now standing that escaped the disaster. The DeBorgia Schoolhouse went on to serve several generations of students from grades one through eight. Sometimes there were very few students. During the 1910s, Mrs. Muriel R. Whinnery taught Neil Stoughton each of the eight grades. The unusual fact that he was the only student in his class was recorded in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Although the school closed in 1956, the simple clapboard building with its wooded lawn and flagpole continued its second function as a social center and gathering place. In 1969, the Happy Homemakers, a small group of spirited ladies, assumed responsibility for the maintenance and preservation of the building. With their dedication and the support of other local groups, this historic treasure, so fondly remembered by many old-timers, continues to serve the tiny West End communities of Mineral County.
From the NRHP plaque at the building