Abandoned Schools
Historical photographs are in the public domain unless otherwise credited. Uncredited present-day photographs are by the author.
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One Room Schoolhouses In the late 1800s, one-room schoolhouses were the backbone of education in rural Idaho, serving sparsely populated communities where families lived far apart on farms and ranches. These schools emerged as settlers moved into the Idaho Territory, driven by the Homestead Act of 1862 and the promise of land or striking it rich in one of the many gold or silver mines. Education was seen as essential for creating literate citizens, but the rugged terrain, harsh winters, and limited resources shaped a simple, practical system. Most one-room schoolhouses were modest wooden or log structures, often built by community members on small plots of donated land. |
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Pioneer schools typically featured a single room with a wood-burning stove for heat, a blackboard, and rows of benches or desks for students of all ages and grades. A bell, sometimes perched in a small tower, signaled the start of the school day. Schools were placed within walking or horseback distance from their homes so children could attend, though travel could be arduous in winter snows or spring mud. The school shown in this photograph was located in the farming town of May, Idaho. |
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Buildings were simple, often constructed from logs or clapboard, with wood stoves for heat and minimal furnishings—desks, a blackboard, and a few books. Schools served as community hubs, hosting town meetings, church services, and social events. Teachers faced harsh conditions, including low pay, isolation, and the task of managing diverse students, sometimes boarding with local families. Teachers were typically young, unmarried women, paid modestly, who taught all grades simultaneously. Harsh winters, sparse funding, and teacher shortages routinely tested rural communities. |
Photo credit: Timothy Devinney via Flickr
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Photo credit: Timothy Devinney via Flickr
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Photo credit: @PinInTheAtlas via YouTube
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Photo credit: @PinInTheAtlas via YouTube
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Greenwood Schoolhouse The Greenwood School is located about 5 miles east of the small town of Hazelton. It was built in 1914 as the second school in Idaho's School District 10. The Greenwood School is named after Annie Pike Greenwood. She was born in Utah in 1879 and moved to Idaho with her husband in 1913, where she worked for one year as the school teacher in District 10's very first school. In 1914 the Greenwood School was built to replace the district's first schoolhouse. Even though Annie never actually taught at the new Greenwood School, it was named after her as a show of appreciation for her active role in the community. Around the time the new school opened, Annie received a letter from the school Superintendent, Ida Sullivan. "I am naming the new schoolhouse and the new school-house district after you because I have long admired your work. It will be known as the Greenwood Schoolhouse, and that is in the Greenwood District." |
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In 1925 the school was doubled in size, as shown in its second photograph. However, in 1954, the school closed and the addition was detached and moved to the town of Rupert, 20 miles away. This returned the school to its original size, as seen today. Annie is most well know for her autobiography, We Sagebrush Folks, published in 1934, in which she mentioned her experience at the school named after her, even though she never taught there. |
Photo credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International by 25or6to4 via Wikimedia
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Photo credit: Donald Meyer
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Harrison Public School Harrison is a small community located on the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene, with a current population of about 200 people, down from its peak of around 1,000 in the early 1900s. In 1895, School District #29 was formed, but the very first classes were held in a Methodist church. The first school building was erected in 1896, and by 1903, there were fifty-nine students. This photograph taken around 1905 is one of the earliest known photographs of the newly built school, which was given the rather unimaginative name of “Public School.” |
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The citizens of Harrison clearly had high hopes for the future growth of their town, which might explain the construction of a large, multi-story public school, with a clock tower and intricate inlaid brick accents above the windows and the front doorway. At some point, the ornate bell tower visible in the first photograph was torn down. The top floor was condemned around 1960, so classes had to be held on the lower floors. The school originally held classes from elementary to high school grades. Even though the top floor was condemned, the lowers floors were still used for first to sixth grades as late as 1976. |
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There were plans as recently as a few years ago to remodel the lower floors into office space, but that has yet to happen. Today the Harrison Public School stands alone and abandoned adjacent to a city park. One former student recalls that the principal used to walk around with a wooden paddle with holes drilled in it, which he used a lot in the lunchroom, hopefully just on the rowdiest boys. The restrooms were located in the basement, which was probably a great inconvenience for the students that had classes on the top floor that were holding it in as long as they could bear. |
Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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Humphrey School The abandoned Humphrey School is located just 7 miles south of the Montana border, at the northern end of Clark County. The school had two floors, making it unusually large given that the tiny town of Humphrey had a population of fewer than 100 people before its decline. In the late 1890s, the Union Pacific Railroad laid tracks from Idaho Falls north into Montana. Along the route they built an earthen dam across a nearby creek and created a large pond for the purpose of producing ice during the winter months. The Humphrey School closed in 1948. |
Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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Photo credit: Adam Winsor
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These are just a sampling of the historical and present-day photographs of abandoned schools in Idaho. For more photographs and intriguing stories about Idaho's abandoned schools, railroads and businesses, see Abandoned Idaho by Howard Frisk, which is now available.
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Photographs and text copyright Howard Frisk unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
