Highlights Archives
Grand Opening of Reed School Set for June 10
Reed School, the one-room schoolhouse near Neillsville that served the area's elementary education needs from 1915 to 1951, will resume an educational role in the life of the rural community when the school reopens as the Wisconsin Historical Society's 10th historic site on Sunday, June 10. Following a 2 p.m. dedication ceremony, a grand opening open house for the community and the general public will take place from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the school, located at U.S. Highway 10 and Cardinal Avenue two miles east of Neillsville. Tours will showcase the renovated school inside and out.
Through the generosity of Gordon and Helen Smith of Potomac, Maryland, Reed School will allow today's elementary school students to experience a day in the life of one-room school pupils long ago. The Smiths not only funded the top-to-bottom restoration of the school, but their family foundation, headed by their daughter Cindy Skarbek, also provided an endowment to fund the school's educational programming and ongoing maintenance.
It was the month in the spring of 1939 that Gordon Smith spent as a first grader at Reed School that inspired him to acquire, restore and donate the school to the Historical Society, along with an endowment to operate it. Smith has said that the positive experience he had as a one-room school student that month stayed with him throughout his life and, eventually, prompted him to acquire and restore the school for the Society to operate as a historic site.
Reed School is now open for pre-scheduled school class visits. The site will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from June 16 through September 30.
Admission to the June 10 grand opening celebration is free to the public.
:: Posted June 6, 2007
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