Rural Schools of Wood County, Wisconsin

McMillan is building a digital resource focused on the history of the rural schools of Wood County. This is both a deep look at our local history and a remembrance of a once common, but now vanished, national institution. By Wisconsin statute, rural elementary schools had to consolidate with a high school district by July 1, 1962. Before that consolidation, rural students in Wisconsin often attended small elementary schools that were within walking distance of their homes. Even listing and locating these schools is a challenging task, since many early records have been lost. Before 1915, schools were informally named and offically designated by their district number, which could vary over time. The district boundaries also changed to reflect changing locations of students. Some schools were physically moved to serve shifting populations, while others burned down or were replaced with new buildings. Several joint districts spanned county lines, so the building may have been located in another county. The number of schools varied, from nearly 100 early in the century to 77 in 1956. There were also a number of private schools, which are less well documented.

Print Resources

Books about Wood County schools:

• Chapter XII of History of Wood County, Wisconsin compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and others : illustrated. H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co., 1923.,
• Cranmoor School history  by Beatrice M. Smith
• Reading, riting, rithmetic & recess : country schools in the towns of Cary, City Point, Dexter, Hansen, Hiles, Remington, Richfield, Rock, Sherwood and Wood by Sally Winkels. This has short histories and photographs of many schools.
• Wittenberg School : history and memories by Edward J. Arendt
• Arbutus School: history and memories by Edward J. Arendt
• Plank Hill School: history and memories by Edward J. Arendt

Attendance records and registers for some Wood and Portage County schools are available at UW-Stevens Point and on microfilm at McMillan.

Books about Wisconsin rural schools:

• One-room country schools : history and recollections by Jerold W. Apps
• Life and learning in a one-room country school  by Richard A Dykstra

Digital Documents and Images

The main digital collection is a series of histories of rural schools composed by the staff and students at each school in 1956, apparently as part of the celebration of the centennial of Wood County. They vary widely in content and depth, with some including photographs, farm histories, rosters and school board extracts. As they are fully processed, they will be listed in the table below under the name of the school.

Photographs - All individual digitized photographs, housed at Recollection Wisconsin.

Map of rural school districts in Wood County, Wisconsin 1930.

Consolidation - A list of where students went when the schools consolidated.

County Graduation Exercises, rural and state graded schools of Wood County, June 5, 1935, June 4, 1936 - Lists schools, teachers and graduates.

The following table lists documents, images and oral histories of specific schools. These schools can be located on the map above. Those marked * have extant buildings, though not always on the original site.

Help us out!

We are looking for the location of the following schools:

• Arpin Township: Powers Bluff 
• Grand Rapids: Franklin
• Milladore: Brookside
• Remington: Yellow River
• Seneca: Jackson