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Rappel, Joseph J. / A centennial history of the Manitowoc County school districts and its public school system, 1848-1948
([1948])
Way, R. S.
History of Kiel School District, pp. 221-222
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Page 221
HISTORY OF KIEL SCHOOL DISTRICT Suot. R. S. Way . the*Kiel school district was organized as Schleswig district No. 4 about the year 1858. There are no written records of its formation except those on file in the county offices. The Schleswig assessment roll of 1859 shows that the original Schleswig district No. 4 which included the settlement of Kiel, was composed of all -of the southern half of. Schleswig. When Schleswig No. 5 and No. 7 were organized about 1862, Schleswig No. 4 was then made up of sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, 32. That was its areal extent until '1930 when most of the joint district No. 4. farming community around Kiel withdrew and organized the present Schleswig The present Kiel Jt. No. 1 school district was at first Schleswig No. 4. Shortly after its organization, it became Scheswig joint No. 4, joint with New Holstein town- ship in Calumet county. In 1892, Kiel became a village and this school district became Kiel school district Jt. 1, joint with Schleswig, Calumet county, and Sheboygan county. In 1920, Kiel, became a city and the school district boundaries remained as they had been. After the 1930 withdrawal the Kiel school district remained Kiel Joint No. 1, joint only with Schleswig and with Calumet county. Col. Henry F. Belitz, a pioneer settler, donated the land for the first public school at what is now the northeast corner of Paine and First Streets. The one room frame school building erected on it was about 30 x 60 feet with windows on all sides. It was built on a stone foundation which placed the building just above the ground level. Carl J. Meiselwitz, one of the pupils who attended that school in the 1870's, states that the school had a large entrance door which opened into a combination entry and cloakroom, The classroom had long wooden benches and desks of several sizes to accomodate the small, middle-sized, and the mature children attending. A high platform across one end of .the roo, was used by the teacher to look out over the heads of the pupils. The room was heated by a stove while the matter of ventila- tion was cared for by opening the windows. Later on when it became a two depart- ment school it was divided into two rooms. This building was sold to Julius Drews who moved it across the street and remodeled it into a home. A second school was built in 1879. It was a one story brick-veneered structure with one school room on each side of the hallway running north and south. The school was about 32 x 40 feet with a basement and cost $751 according to the town clerk's report to the county superintendent. Mr. Meiselwitz states that it is now the south one-half of the Adolph Meiselwitz factory at First and Paine streets. In 1884, a second story addition was voted to the brick building erected in 1879. This addition followed the pattern of the original building and cost $667. The Kiel school by this time was offering a three year high school course and all of the four rooms were used for grades or high school classes. Kiel was growing rapidly at that time so the building erected in 1879 and enlarged in 1884 was again inadequate by 1898. Accordingly, the voters in 1898 authorized the construction of a two-story, four room additon to the old building. This is the present north half of the Meiselwitz factory. The building operations lasted for several years as new rooms were completed and put into use. The village clerk's report to the sup- erintendent show that the sum of $6,000 was spent in 1898-99, another $3,000 in 1902- 03, and another $2,800 in 1904 to 1906. Within ten years after the erection of the addition, the city of Kiel was faced with the problem of providing a modern grade and high school building to meet the school needs of this and surrounding communities. The voters in 1909, authorized a new high school building to be erectedh a few feet south of the old brick school. This 221
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