Locust School | Winneshiek County Historical Society

The Locust School Fall Program has been postponed until further notice due to Covid 19

The Locust School Committee will not open the school regular weekend hours this summer. The plan is to give tours by appointment only, persons interested need to contact one of the committee members to arrange a time.
Committee members are Paul Hexom – 563-382-5765, LaVonne Bjergum, and Glenn Larson

The Locust School is open for tours, by appointment only, for the 2021 season. Arrangements to tour the school can be made by calling the Winneshiek County Historical Society office, 563-382-4166. Along with the rest of the community, the school is still struggling with the collateral damage of COVID-19, but was still able to host four school tours for a total of 206 people. The photos speak to the fun time the students have as they experience a school day in a different era.

At the present time the Committee is in the process of evaluating the work that has been done and how to proceed for the preservation of the school and its future direction. THANK YOU to those new members who have stepped forward to help with charting this direction and a huge THANK YOU to those Committee members who have worked so hard in the past and are willing to lend their expertise to the new Committee members.

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WCHS owns and maintains the one-room Locust School. The school is maintained as a living history site where school classes are able to visit and experience a typical school day of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The school was built in 1854 of rock quarried from a farm one-half mile west of the school site (the Ruffridge Farm).

Click here to view a video of the school.

The physical address for the school is, 1640 Big Canoe Rd. It’s at the intersection of W38 and A26.

LOCUST SCHOOL PROGRESS
The restoration project at Locust School is progressing in spite of all of our rain. It is with great pleasure we offer these pictures to show our progress. One of the issues that needed to be addressed was the moisture in the basement. The County Supervisors authorized the County Engineer to create a culvert which has alleviated the “wading pool” in the ditch in front of the school. As the restoration has progressed a pump with drain tile has been installed to als0 address the issue. As with any historic building restoration, more problems have arisen which has resulted in increased costs. Your help is needed to complete this work and help this historic building retain its integrity for many generations to come. Our deepest gratitude goes to those individuals and businesses listed below for all of their support. A GoFundMe account is set up–see gofundme.com/hkzpms5k. Also any donations may be sent to WCHS, Locust School, P. O. Box 63, Decorah, IA 52101.