Christmas plays at LaMotte School

LaMotte School was only about a one mile walk from our home in Bear Canyon. In the winter we would pull our sleds along and play with them at noon time. My younger… Continue reading →

Upper Bridger School Memories

The first day of school after you’d selected your very best “school” outfit; you’d enter the room, leave your coat and sack lunch in the “cloak” room and be enveloped by the smells… Continue reading →

Upper Bridger School memories part 1: Getting to school and into mischief

Last night before the Oscars aired, Shawna and David and I met for some pizza and conversation with a graduate of Gallatin County’s Upper Bridger School, Cecelia Olsen. Cecelia went to the Upper Bridger… Continue reading →

One Room School Memories from Danvers, Montana

I would like to add to school house memories, as I went to the Danvers, Mt. one room school house Dist # 91 and I went there from first grade to 8th grade. It… Continue reading →

Pine Butte School Memories

The Pine Butte School, west of Bozeman on Norris Road, was built in 1895 and served as a community grade school until 1955. In 2003, Richard W. Burkenpas published the 188-page, “Pine Butte School… Continue reading →

February is “Love Your One-Room Schoolhouses” Month

Gallatin County Historic Preservation Board announced that preservation volunteers have deemed this February “Love Your One-Room Schoolhouses” month. A tiny handful of grassroots community groups have worked hard to keep the last few old schoolhouses… Continue reading →

Have recording equipment, will travel

If you, or someone you know, attended a rural school in Gallatin County and you need help capturing the story, feel free to contact me via the “comment” field below and I will… Continue reading →

Christmas at Cottonwood School in the 1970s

Christmas was a huge production at Cottonwood School during my years of attendance (1970-78). First, there were the special gifts for our parents: One year it was a salt-dough mushroom glued to a… Continue reading →

Christmas Program Memories from Rural Yellowstone County

I didn’t attend a one room school in Gallatin County. Mine was a two room school in rural Yellowstone County that replaced an earlier one room school. I’m not sure the exact date… Continue reading →

How to help preserve Gallatin County’s last one-room schoolhouses

In the U.S. in 1918, one-room schools numbered 196,037 (70% of all public grade schools). By 1960, the number was 13,330. Gallatin County, Montana had 77 school districts in 1916. In 2009 there… Continue reading →