Going to the crossroads of Hwy 169 and 30 you will come to the little town of Amboy with its living history of the one room school that taught many of the citizens of the community not so many years ago.
The school sat on the corner of the gravel roads just southeast of Amboy for years, offering education to the students in the rural area that would not be able to get into town. At that time there were no buses running to pick the kids up, they either rode horse, walked or were taken by their parents who couldn’t make the trip to town everyday, twice a day.
The school was certainly well built since it was moved from its location in the country to where it stands today without any major problems. It certainly needed cleaning and painting, but the integrity of the building was still sound. It had served its students well for many years and now will be continuing the education of the youth with tours and sessions of how it was when many students went to the one room schools of the past.
The 1950’s saw the end of the need for the one room school when transportation to the school in town was made available. Following it’s many years as a place the learning the one room school fell to the low state of being a shelter for chickens, a storage place for insulation and a home to any stray animal or bird that could find its way inside. Then a group of citizens of Amboy decided that the school should be moved into town to be used as a museum for future generations to see and learn about what education was like in the early years.
Finding a Treasure’s ledger for the school for the year 1879 showed the cost of operations to be $193.84 of which $154.00 was teacher salary. At the time teachers often lived within walking distance of the school, often with families in the area. The pay was often added to with meals or produce the farm families would share with the teacher.
Teachers were often the first ones to the school and would have to build the fire in the stove to get the building warm enough for the students. That would mean they needed to bring in the wood, light the fire and then get ready for the students to arrive. Occasionally there would be a kind student that would help with hauling in the wood so the teacher didn’t have to do it.
With the refurbishing of the school and the dedication of those that still live in the area the school has been able to reclaim some of the original school desks that were in the school in the country. The original bell still hangs in the tower where for years it called the beginning of the school day.
Come to Amboy to visit the museum and you may be able to spend some time visiting with some of the students that attended the one room school in the country. A number of them still live in the community and are more than happy to share their stories with visitors.