Johnson County Historical Scty

Impossible you say? Not really because I live a little over a block from the 1876 school that has become the site of the Johnson County Historical Society. http://www.jchsiowa.org/JCHSschoolhouse.html This building has quite a history as it once housed not only school classes but a the second floor auditorium and gymnasium. When the need for classroom space became greater both floors were used as school rooms. Over the years it has done duty as a rec center, a warehouse and a teen center. In 1974 the county leased it for 50 years to be used as the historical center. It was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1976. Today the school house features a typical 1876 school room on the first floor. Countless groups of school children have visited this 1876 school and taken part in what would have been a school day in the lives of the children of that time, right down to recess and rolling hoops. I had the pleasure of taking part in one of these school days a couple years ago. Currently the second floor is being renovated into a classroom of the 1940s. This building is truly a sampling of our past. Yes, I heard the school bell this morning. That means a class has come to visit. more

Most of you reading this are too young to know what the 3 R's mean so for you "youngsters" out there I will enlighten you. In years past, in the days of the one room schoolhouse, the 3 R's meant, Reading (w)Riting and (a)Rithmatic. I KNOW that those words aren't spelled correctly but stay with me here folks. Here on 5th Street in Coralville, Iowa resides one of the last remaining one-room schoolhouses left in the United States. Through these doors are examples of books, desks, coal burning stoves, and even the "slates" children used to do their homework on when they attended school. To visit this museum is to experience first hand how children learned int he days before computers and "spell check". It is a wonderful example of a simpler time in which the basics were taught to the children. Though this museum is great by any standard, I wish there were more examples of actual work completed by children of this era. With the addition of such work, this museum would be virtually complete! If you have never seen a one-room schoolhouse or even if you have, I invite you to come visit Coralville's schoolhouse and see for yourself what life was like in a simpler less hectic time and place. more