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When the Turtle Lake Lumber Company built its company town they named it after its main investor, Walter* Winchester. The lumber company had this building built and hired staff for it around 1910. Prior to this, taught by Anna Buck at the Divide Resort from about 1902 until the school opened. The school provided an education to area children in grades first through eighth. One room was for grades first through fourth and the other was fifth through eighth. For further education, students needed to travel to Mercer, Minocqua, Ironwood or Wausau. The school property exchanged hands a few times after the Lumber Company Sold off its assets and was eventually donated to the town. In 1940 the school near Birch Lake closed, leaving the Winchester Schoolhouse the only functioning school in town. The Winchester Public School continued to function into the mid 1960’s when school consolidation occurred. Once the school closed, the town found other uses for the building. It was used as a community center, storage and even an ambulance garage. In 1986 a committee was formed to turn the building into a public library. In 2015 renovations were done to restore the original schoolhouse aesthetic. This effort done by a mix of private contractors and volunteers, some of whom were former students. Today it still functions as a library and community center. The library provides educational events for residents of all ages and is the center of the local historical preservation effort. Winchester residents, both seasonal and permanent attest to this building being the heart of its community for over 110 years. Known teachers here included; Bertha Adkins(Principle Circa 1917), Mrs. McDonald (1920-1922), Jess Laundrie (circa 1938), Mrs. Dodge (1959-1960), Mr. Balstad (1963), Mrs. Carrow (1961-1966), Mr. Armstrong (1963-1966) and Mr. Engle(1940-1953).

Nancy Duranso(Meier), Rosemary Divine, Marie Baeseman(Behnke), Back Roe: Wally Engel(Teacher) 8th grade class of 1947

School Children from the lower grades 1962

School children from the lower grades of Winchester State Graded School

The Winchester School was built around 1910 by the Turtle Lake Lumber Company for the benefit of their employee’s children. All materials for the building were harvested and milled locally by the lumber company. The building has two rooms, one was for the older student class room and the other for younger the school also had an outhouse behind it. It was used for over 50 years before it closed.

Winchester Library- Former Winchester State Grade School

Welcome to the Northern Wisconsin's tour of historic schools.  Please explore the great communities, stories and educational institutions that defined northern Wisconsin.

In the year 1892, G.C. Bardwell the first postmaster appointed from Washington D.C. at Manitowish, Wisconsin. In that same year the Manitowish School was built, and it burned ten years later. In 1908, it was replaced by the building that still remains just off the bike trail and is now a private home. The home still has the look of the original schoolhouse. The first teacher at the school married into the family who owned the land upon which the school resides. In 1919, there were less than twenty students enrolled in school.Teachers who taught at Manitowish School must have been young unmarried women for the most part as they didn’t seem to teach for very many years.Miss Lamielle-1897-1998Miss Elliott-1904Miss Prideaux-1905Mable Hawn and Margaret Morris-1910Phyllis Andrews-1926Catherine Whithington-1932-1933Eileen McCauley-1934-1935Florence Lamont-1935-1936Jennie Savoldelli-1937Hazel Wagner-1938-1939By 1932, Manitowish School was part of District No. 1 Town of Mercer and designated as a rural school while the school in Mercer was designated as a First-Class State Graded School. By 1937, there was considerable consolidation discussion, and it appears it was very hard for the citizens of Manitowish to give up their school.  Mrs. Doriot even stated that school examinations showed that Manitowish School students faired better on these tests. It was voted to remain opened but in the next several years the school would close, and students were sent to Mercer for their education. The school was a gathering place for the Manitowish Community and parents would often help the teacher by preparing parties for special occasions during school hours. The parents would also raise money for the school by entertaining community members with card parties at school, the students performed for the community through school presentations, the children would raise money each year for the Red Cross and Easter Seals, and community dances were held as well. In the late 1930’s CCC enrollees at Camp Mercer 660 would continue their elementary education through Manitowish School with many earning their eighth-grade diplomas. A WPA project allowed music lessons for fifteen students during the Great Depression. Students under the direction of Gerry Andrews studied piano and performed piano recitals every Friday to show their progress.

Manitowish School was the first regional school along the Iron and Vilas county boarder. The Chicago Northwestern railroad usher families to the region and pioneer families built a school just three years after the railroad crossed the Manitowish River. Manitowish School quickly became a hub of community activities and place of community pride. As the town of Mercer grew, Manitowish School realized declining enrollment, consolidation became inevitable around World War II.Travelers can enjoy a limited view of Manitowish School by car, the Mercer Bike Trail, or paddling on the Manitowish River. Property around Manitowish School is private, and travelers can look from Highway 51 or the bike path. Private property should be respected by all travelers.

Manitowish School

Early Land O Lakes started with 2 towns that developed in the late 1800s around the huge logging industry. The towns were STATE LINE and DONALDSON. State Line formed alongside the main line of the Milwaukee Lake Shore &amp; Western Railroad that brought rails from central Wisconsin to the state line and up to Watersmeet MI. State Line Post Office was established in 1887.  Donaldson grew with the highly successful Mason-Donaldson Saw Mill operation located on present-day Mill Lake just a mile and a half west of State Line (Land O' Lakes). The origins of a saw mill at this site go back to Rudolph Otto of Antigo, WI who started operation in 1887. A railroad spur connected the mill to the main line in State Line. Otto died unexpectedly in 1898. Next owners, Mather Bros., suffered severe losses in 1902 from a number of destructive fires. Wilbur Lumber Co. of Milwaukee kept the plant in operation until Mason &amp; Donaldson purchased the entire mill property in 1905. A 1903 issue of the Vilas County News states, "Notice"...sealed bids will be received...to furnish all the material and labor required in building the school house at Mather Bros. mill..." At its peak, the Town of Donaldson boasted 20 to 30 houses for families, a boarding house for single men, dance hall and saloon, superintendent's house, company general store, mill office, the 2-room school and more. In 1907 the Post Office in State Line was relocated to Donaldson for the growing population and business there.  January 1908 New North Newspaper, Rhinelander"Hereafter address your letters "Donaldson" instead of "State Line", Wisconsin. The post office at State Line is no more, having been discontinued January first, the fixtures, etc. of the old office being removed to the mill-site of the Mason-Donaldson Lumber Company, one and a half miles from State Line, installed in the store building and named "Donaldson"...." In May 1908, after a few short successful years, a destructive fire totally destroyed the Mason-Donaldson Saw Mill. The owners, Mason and Donaldson, chose not to rebuild. The company general store was closed and the village nearly vacated.  By 1913 the Post Office was moved back to State Line and located in a store across from the Railroad Depot (site of present-day Land O' Lakes Library). In time, many of the Donaldson houses were moved to State Line and located in the downtown which had developed along the railroad tracks. In 1923 the Post Office name was changed from State Line to Land O' Lakes. The Donaldson School continued as the District School through 1931. In that year, there were 57 students enrolled. Throughout the years, the school was used for numerous community social functions as well as school events, church services and Sunday School classes.  After 1931, the school building and property became part of Charlotte Lake Forests Resort on Mill Lake with the two classrooms converted into sleeping quarters for fishermen and hunters. After resort ownership ended, the school sat idle and was offered for salvage. Walter Turnquist of Land O' Lakes and his son Mike came to salvage and found the old school safe, which still contained report cards and school records. That safe is on display at the Land O' Lakes NorthernWaters Museum.  In the 1950s, Twin Lakes Bible Church in Phelps salvaged building materials, including the nails, which were used to build an addition onto the church. The foundation, steps and sidewalk of the Donaldson School still exist at the site. All that remains of the Town are earthen berms and depressions where houses and outbuildings once stood. The mill site remains in private ownership.

In the early 1900s, the Town of Donaldson was a bustling lumber mill town located just west of State Line (Land O' Lakes) WI. The town got its name from the Mason-Donaldson Lumber Co. of Rhinelander WI which ran a highly successful mill operation on the shore of present-day Mill Lake. The Town was comprised of company houses, a general store, boarding house, saloon, community hall, and an impressive 2-room school. The school foundation, steps and sidewalk still exist. The Donaldson School historic site is located on Land O' Lakes town property on Town Garage Rd. and is accessible during non-winter months. Interpretive signs tell the story of the Donaldson School, the Town and the Mill.

 Donaldson School Historic Site

Marge Helmers was a student in The Little Green Schoolhouse and long time Mercer Resident, in an interview she remembered; "The Little Green Schoolhouse where the playground is. I think there is one telephone pole where there used to be a road going through behind where the community building is....it was very drafty."Shirley Sleight attended the Little Green Schoolhouse and described her experience there,"...one room building with a cloak rack. There were four tall windows on one side and a huge round wood burning heater in the center. The body of the wood stove was encircled with a wide ring of chrome that students could rest their feet on to warm them. Our teacher was 19 years old and boarded at a farm about a mile from school...There were no lights in the school, just one kerosene lamp, and on dark stormy days we went home early. It was four miles for my sister and me, by snowshoes or skis, before grandpa built his school bus. When it was very cold, and we never knew just how cold it was, the wind would blow snow under the windows so the sills and the floor had a few inches of snow on them. Those of us who sat in the two rows closest to the windows wore out outdoor clothes. When we got too stiff to work, we would trade places with the two rows close to the stove. Other days when it uncomfortably cold but not bitter cold, the teacher would put on a marching record on the portable windup Victrola that she kept at School. We would all stop working and march until we were warm. There were 13 kids in eight grades. We were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, (the higher grades had algebra), history, geography, English literature, and a little music and art. Those teachers were the greatest, most dedicated I have ever known and they knew how to talk to and deal with such a wide range of ages and ethnic backgrounds. We learned through osmosis, learning from the grades ahead of us without realizing it."Charles Moffit was the Supervisor of Mercer's first school and the first teacher was Fanny Folsom from Hurley. Miss. Folsom was an educated young single woman and boarded at a nearby farm, from which she walked, skied or snowshoed. Mrs. Everson was also an early teacher at The Little Green Schoolhouse and was the wife of Ed Everson the local businessman/politician. The building functioned from 1894 to 1914, eventually a new school was needed to serve the growing community. After the new school was built 7th and 8th grade was still taught in the old school for a few years, latter it was used as the cafeteria/kitchen. The Hasenburg Family moved there to reside when William Hasenburg grew ill so medical help could be more accessible. Unfortunately in the end it was not enough to save him and in January 1929 William died in the old school building. William Hasenburg was a skilled painter had previously painted the mural on the ceiling of the Ironwood Theater.Nothing from the original school remains to this day. Its location is known through old pictures and interviews with staff and students. Its old location is bare ground between the Community Building and the current school. Due to it being near the playground recess area, we encourage people to visit outside of school hours in order to respect the privacy children and staff.

As industry developed small communities sprung up around sawmills, lumber camps and railroad stops. Some of these places grew into the modern communities we know today, others disappeared with time. One of the very first institutions to be established in these communities was usually a school. This location is the site of the first school to be built in Mercer, know as "The Little Green Schoolhouse" due to its small size and unique color. It was overseen by Charles Moffit, an early pioneer and educator. It ran from 1894 until 1914 when another school was constructed to better suit the growing population.

Northern Wisconsin Schools

Winchester Library- Former Winchester State Grade School

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources