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. EEDSVILLE SCHOOL
Violet K. Laack
    The present Reedsville
grade and high school has long
been known as the Reedsville
public s c h o o 1. The original
school district was formed in
1861 by order of John Cannon,
town superintendent of schools
of the town of Maple Grove.
The new school district includ-
ed areas in Maple Grove and
Rockland which originally were
parts of Rockland 6 and Maple
Grove 3. The new district was
then known as Maple Grove
joint district No. 10. It remain-
ed joint district 10 until 1892
when Reedsville became an in-
corporated village. Then the
school district was designated as Reedsville Jt. 1, embracing land in Reedsville,
Rock-
land, and Maple Grove. In 1931, the areas outside of Reedsville village withdrew
due to above average taxes and formed the new school districts of Rockland
1 and
Maple Grove 5. The Reedsville village school was then designated the Reedsville
school district.
    Evidently the first school site was leased to the school district for
it was not
until July 5, 1889, that lot 13 and so much of the south end of lot 10 as
lies east of
so called Mud Creek in Block No. 52 was purchased. On July 8, 1891, J. E.
Schultz
sold to the district the S½ of lot 11, Block 52, and on Feb. 26, 1946,
Herman Boettcher
sold to the district the north part of lot 10, Block 52.
.   The first school was a frame building located on the site of the present
public
school. It was a long rectangular building with the usual windows on three
sides.
Goff Morrissey, who taught in this school, describes it as a one room structure.
The
school was furnished with the usual "blackboards", crude seats
and desks, benches,
water pail, dipper, and wood box. The heating plant consisted of a box stove.
Some
of the older residents remember how the boys had to saw and split the firewood.
After that school had served its purpose it was remodeled and is now used
as a
drug store by L. A. Busse.
    During the 1880's the little frame building was constantly over-crowded.
Rec-
ords in the county office show that in 1884 there were 128 pupils enrolled
for the
year. Enrollments of above 100 were common up to 1890. Because of the over-crowd-
ed conditions and because the first'school was badly in need of repairs,
the voters
at the annual school meeting in 1890 introduced a resolution to appoint a
committee
composed of James Noble, Jos. Dumas, and Louis Falge to investigate the advisability
of a new school buildinq. This committee must have recommended favorably
for in
1891, a new two room bricklbuilding was erected at a cost of about $4,400.
Fred Blum
was the building contractor. The part built at that time was the west half
of the
.present school. About 1903 the east half of the present four room building
was
erected for about $6,000 by Emil and August Berkholtz.
    After the establishment of the high school in 1916, the school was c6ntinually
being remodeled in order that the increasing enrollments might be properly
housed.
A room in the attic was fitted up for a classroom, while the basement was
partition-
ed off so that indoor lavatories could be installed. On March 30, 1917, a
special meet-
ing was called for the purpose of approving a loan of $12,000 to pay for
an addition
to the school. The vote was 122 against, 73 votes for, and 13 votes defective.
Up to
1940 the village and Legion halls were used for the school's basketball games.
On
May 27, 1940, a special school election was called to vote on the question
of a school
gymnasium and a village community hall. The vote was favorable-and building
con-
struction began on August 16, 1940, and was completed December 1, 1940 at
a cost
of about $22,000. The general contractor was Furton Construction Co. of Menominee,
Michigan. The gymnasium is 59 x 104 feet; the auditorium proper- 57 x 79;
-and the
stage 18 x 32 feet. The building, was dedicated March 21, 1941.
    High school education for every eighth grade graduate was becoming a
common
policy after 1935. To make high school education possible for the eighth
grade
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