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MANITOWOC RAPIDS
    All of the original Manitowoc county as set up in 1848, with the exception
of the
townships of Manitowoc and Two Rivers, was at first a part of Manitowoc Rapids.
While this large area was a part of this township, school districts were
organized in
various communities throughout the original Manitowoc Rapids area. When the
present Manitowoc Rapids was organized, some of the districts in the township
had
been given district numbers as high as number 10 and 11. That accounts for
the
present missing school district numbers of 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The first school
district
in Manitowoc Rapids was district number 3.
                   MANITOWOC RAPIDS 1 - SHADYSIDE
                               Florence T. Pleuss
    Shadyside school was the
name chosen- for the school in
Manitowoc Rapids No. 1. That
was an appropriate name for
the many box elders on the
schoolground  make a shady
place on the land sloping to the
west. These trees were planted
many years ago by Louis Ma-
thison. Most residents of the
township still refer to this
school as the Trainor school be-
cause the site adjoined the old
Trainor farm to the east. Some
old timers called it the Irish
school because of the many
Irish pupils who once attended
it. The building is located on
highway 151 about live miles
from Manitowoc, the approximate location being near the N.W. corner of section
32,
Manitowoc Rapids.
    The land on which the school is located was purchased from the government
on
August 15, 1850 by Ole Christianson. There is evidently no record of how,
from whom,
and for how much the original school site was obtained. On June 28, 1909,
an addi-
tional quarter acre was purcltsed from Wm. Fischer for $90. This added land
to
the west of the old schoolyard. The wish was to purchase additional space
to the
east instead of to the west, but since the Trainors had begun a small nursery
on that
piece of land, it was impossible to make a satisfactory deal.
    The district was set up for school purposes about 1850, although there
is no writ-
ten record to prove this. Most of the other schools in this area were started
about 1850,
and so one must assume that district number 1 would have been organized about
that
time. Records do show that when Hakan Nordi bought his farm from Oswald Tor-
rison in 1858 a schoolhouse was on it, and it was agreed to have it remain
there as
long as the district wanted it to remain.
    The first one-room log school was erected about 1850. It is believed
to have been
located on the present site, but Hakan Nordi's deed did not give the exact
location
of the school . The building was built by the early settlers with such materials
as
they had on hand. The farmers cut the logs, put up the school, and added
homemade
equipment for teaching and learning.
    The benches seated eight pupils each with long boards used for desks.
One
"black" board was used, and each pupil was expected to furnish
his own slate. A
long box stove stood in the front of the room with smokepipes leading to
the chim-
ney in the rear of the room. Water' was brought from the Trainor farm in
a pail
from which the pupils got their drinking water by means of the inevitable
dipper.
Handwashing was not practiced with the precious water supply. The old log
school
burned down in 1871 from an overheated stove. The loss, in addition to the
build-
ing, included a large new dictionary which had just been purchased. The remainder
of the school tearm 1871-2 was held in a farm home across from the Trainor
home.
    In 1872 the present frame school was built for $500. It was not as well
equipped
as it is today. The building is about 26 x 32 with an entry, two cloakrooms,
and a
good-sized classroom. Three windows on each of the long sides and two in
the front
care for the lighting. There is no basement, so the heating and ventilation
system
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