Bassword Grove School

Bassword Grove School

If you have any photos or memories of the Basswood Grove School to share, contact us.

District No. 35, Basswood Grove School
DISTRICT FORMED 1854
YEARS SCHOOLS BUILT 1854, 1876
GENERAL LOCATION Near Afton, Denmark Township
MODERN ADDRESS Located at 8628 St. Croix Trail.
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES This district was regularly losing area as several districts split off including districts 45, 49, and 59.
DISPOSITION Now a garage (torn down?)
NOTES
  • 1854: District established and school built.
  • 1858: The name Basswood Grove is given to the school.
  • 1876: A new schoolhouse is built.
  • 1950s: Schoolhouse is closed.
  • The teacher’s desk and stool when the school was built in 1854 cost 50 cents each!
  • School was very parent-involved.
  • The school lasted for four months in the summer, and four months in the winter, with grades 1-8.
  • Enrollment in 1898: 28 students. In 1938: 11 students.
  • When the new school building was completed in 1876, the old building was sold for $25.25 and remodeled as a kitchen.
MEMORIES: “How many remember the Clothier Hall
That was built in Denmark Town
Right on the edge of Basswood Grove
Ah me, they have torn it down.Ah, those tall and husky farmer boys
All week might plow and thresh,
But on Friday nights they would all
Dress up and come to spend their cash.Ah, those pretty buxom farmer girls
Would have their work all done,
Be decked in ribbons, lace and curls,
And to be there to join the fun.”
-Auld Memories, by Mrs. M.O. O’Neil from St. Croix Falls.

Known Teachers

1854-5: James Clark (Jennet?)
1896-99: Laura B. Wright
1910s: Blanch Tripp
1928-9: Zenith Dennsmore
1933-4: Viola Piculell Nickelson
1938-9: Alvan Kuenn
1939-40: Irma Kippe
1940s: Mary Idene Windhorst Lindeman
1949-50: Edwin Robb
1950-1: Edwin Robb
1951-2: Sally Paulson Cournoyer
Other teachers: Alex Oldham, Eugene Fett, Francis Kemp, Essie Baley, T.P. James, Mary O’Connor, John McGill, Emma McHattie, Aurilla Furber, Charles Marshall