The One Room School House on the Salem Community High School campus has been cleaned and reopened to the public and for use as a classroom.
Iuka Grade School third and fourth graders were the first to be taught a lesson in the building on Tuesday. They were greeted by the sounding of the school bell to mark the start of classes.
Salem Historical Commission member Jim Koehler undertook the project.
“We want to have another place where people can come to Salem and visit some tourist attractions,” Koehler said. “I don’t know how many years it had been since people had been in it, so we just really had to clean a lot. We didn’t have a lot of other things to do, but it took a long time to clean all the stuff off and get everything ready.”
The school is the East Nation School first built in 1899 and then moved to the Salem Community High School campus by the Marion County Retired Teachers.
A teacher for 23 years, Penny Purdue, has agreed to open the school for visitors and classes.
“Hopefully we can share it and get everyone interested in what education used to be like,” Purdue said. “You hear stories and you see pictures, but to be able to actually come in and see it firsthand is always better.”
Purdue says both her grandparents were teachers in one room schools.
“We always heard about how there was one teacher and how they had to get the stove started, take care of the maintenance of the room, get the water from the well, and all those things. It’s going to be exciting to be around it.”
Those interested in touring the school or teachers wanting to teach a class there should contact Koehler or any member of the Salem Historical Commission.
Purdue is also saving a one room schoolhouse herself as she has obtained the one room school that later was used by Haines Township. She plans to move it to her residence and restore it. Unfortunately, many of the 113 one room school houses once located in Marion County have been torn down over the years.
