Meade County Rural Schools

By Nancy Ohnick

Gone forever are the one-room country schools that dotted the countryside around Meade County. The buildings may be gone, but one has only to bring the subject up where a group of farmers are gathered to find the memories are very much alive. Prior to the 1950s, if you lived in the country you probably attended grade one through eight in one of these one-room, one-teacher schools. In the early years they may have been family dwellings, even sod houses.

If you lived west and north of Meade you may have gone to Prosperity, Pleasant Home, Liberty Knoll, Sunny Dell, Mertilla or Button. North of Meade was Artesian Valley, Pleasant View, and Western Gem. To the east of town was Belle Meade, Grandview, Highland, Lakeview, Happy Hollow, McNulty, and Moundview. The southeast area of the county included Evergreen One, Evergreen Two, Pleasant Hill, Lily Dale, Sunny Dale, Good Will, Five Mile, Valley Grove and Long View. If you lived south of Meade you may have gone to Black, Sunrise, Century, Atwater, Happy Hill, Stone, Fairview, Pleasant Valley or Kyger. To the south of Plains was Pleasant View, Rolldale, West Glendale, East Glendale and Lone Star.

Our records at the Museum document 52 rural schools in Meade County. It must have been a tremendous task to coordinate the activities of so many different schools in so many different locations. From 1935 to 1969 that task was undertaken by Miss Ola Granger, Meade County Superintendent of Schools. During her 37 years of service, Miss Granger earned the respect and admiration of many a rural student and the community as a whole. Born on a farm north of Meade, July 20, 1881, Miss Granger spent 30 years in the teaching profession prior to taking the job as County Superintendent. She died in 1978.

The Old Stone School House still stands 13 miles straight south of Meade and the Sunny Dale School House stands on the lot just north of the Meade County Historical Museum. Many of the other school buildings found their way into town or onto farms to serve as homes or outbuildings. We know where some of them are... the rest are lost forever.

We are searching for histories and/or personal recollections of former students of Meade County's rural schools. Please contribute to this section of the website if you can... before it's lost forever. If you have a story to share email me or find contact information on the "about us" page. Thanks.

Superintendents of Meade County Rural Schools

1886 - N.B. Clark

1886 - N.H. Mendenhall

1890 - Mollie Dalgarn

1892 - D.P. Wysong

1894 - Jennie Kessler

1898 - J.A. Porterfileld

1900 - Maggie Martin

1904 - Ruth Bennet

1908 - Mattie Haig

1912 - Pearl Wood Smith

1916 - Ola Granger

1922 - Clara Carrell

1928 - Louise Hallock

1932 - Mattie Boyd

1936-63 - Ola Granger

A great old clipping of rural school teachers in 1945.