Larimer County Rural Schools

Antelope Springs School

This school was east of Wellington just across the Weld County line. The school was open in 1914-15.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Antelope Springs School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Antelope Springs School," Wellington Hi-Lites, October 15, 1981

Bellvue School, c. 1930
Bellvue School, c. 1930

Bellvue School

The little old stone school house was being torn down. No one seems to remember just when the building was constructed, but records show that the district was organized April 28,1886. The teacher taught all grades. Pupils numbered from 40 down, all sizes and ages. In 1913, the district was consolidated with Laporte.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Bellvue School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Bellvue School House, Built About 1886, Being Razed," Fort Collins Coloradoan, June 29, 1955

Old Berthoud School, District #22
Old Berthoud one room school, c. 1912

Old Berthoud School, District #22

The Old Berthoud School was at one point sitting on the Wilson Farm approximately 1 ¼ - 1 ½ miles south of 1st Street and Highway 287 in Berthoud, Colorado on County Road 15A. The original log cabin schoolhouse was built in1873. In 1880 there were 15 pupils in the school. In 1882 or 1883 the town of Berthoud was started and a brick school was built in town in1887. In 1914 another room was added on to the original brick building making it a two room schoolhouse with two teachers. The building has a coat room on each end and large coal stoves in the corner of each room. There was a cistern outside for water. The Old Berthoud School was no longer used after 1949.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Old Berthoud School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • History of Old Berthoud School with Bibliography

Lower Boxelder School
Boxelder School (Lower), District # 15, c. 1925

Lower Boxelder School

A photo shows seven members of the Young Citizens League doing a ceremonial candle-lighting for the state YCL convention in Denver.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Lower Boxelder School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Top YCL Team," Fort Collins Coloradoan, April 7, 1960

Upper Boxelder School, District #33
Upper Boxelder School, District 33, c. 1913

Upper Boxelder School, District #33

Built in 1883 on the Maxwell Ranch in the upper Boxelder Canyon, north of Fort Collins, this one-room school house was one of four in rural District #33. It was about five miles east of Highway 287 on the Granite Canyon road. That school District served a very large area, with many of the children traveling several miles to attend classes. The funds were derived from the District and the amount in the treasury determined the length of the school year. There was a single teacher and usually no more than 10 students. The school was used continuously from the date it was built until the final classes were taught in the summer of 1950. In 1976 the school house was donated to the city by CSU which had inherited the Maxwell ranch and moved to the Museum courtyard in 1977.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Upper Boxelder School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Log school being moved to Lincoln Park (Upper Boxelder School) by Charlene Tresner April, 1977
  • Many articles and documents covering the moving and restoration of the school

Buckeye School, District #55
Buckeye School, District #55

Buckeye School, District #55

The Buckeye School was located north of Fort Collins. It was started in 1925 as a two room school house.. Several schools consolidated in 1926 with some of the students coming to Buckeye. In July of 1960 the District was reorganized and Buckeye school was closed. The building has been used by the Buckeye community for gatherings and community functions.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Buckeye School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • The Buckeye School with attached photo and documents

District #35 School
School on I-25 (no name), District #35

District #35 School

This was originally a white one-room school northeast of Fort Collins. Students were attending in1893-94. In 1906, a large brick structure was constructed.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - District #35 School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Several copies of 1906 documents
  • A program from the class of 1942
  • Newspaper article from 1975

Fossil Creek School, District #31
Pupils and teacher of Fossil Creek School, c. 1910

Fossil Creek School, District #31

Fossil Creek School was built in 1884. On May 20, 1910 there was a special program presented by Attie Moore who was the teacher. A copy of the program survives. In 1955 it was annexed to District #5.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Fossil Creek School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Fossil Creek School, Erma I. Devers
  • Copy of 1910 program

Spring School House c. 1916
Spring School House c. 1916

Greenacre-Spring School

Spring School had originally been called Greenacre School. It was built for the education of a few ranch children in 1898. The original site was up the valley of Boxelder Creek, about 2 or 3 miles west of County Road #21. It was called Greenacre School because it was on a parcel of land owned by the Greenacre brothers. Homesteaders began moving into the north country and the school was moved in 1914 or 1915 to better serve the children. By the 1930s, the school was no longer used and was in dilapidated condition.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Greenacre-Spring School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "So Long Ago…," Wellington Hi-Lites, January 1, 1982
  • "Olive Widman remembers teaching for $40 a month," Fort Collins Coloradoan, March 17,1974
  • "Teaching school best alternative," Fort Collins Review, November 10, 1982

Harmony School, District #17
Old Harmony School, c. 1916

Harmony School, District #17

Built before 1892, the original Harmony School was called Muddy School at first. In 1892 there were about 30 students. The current building was constructed in 1931.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Harmony School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Lots of material about restoration and history

View of Highland School in Spring Canyon of Stout, Colorado, c. 1889
View of Highland School in Spring Canyon of Stout, Colorado, c. 1889

Highland (Spring Canyon) School, District #27

The area where Horsetooth Reservoir is today west of Fort Collins was once an active quarry town. In 1882, the first frame schoolhouse was built. The following year, the quarry owner donated a hill near his house for the new stone schoolhouse. In 1898 the enrollment reached 30. Quarry work halted with the Panic of 1898. The Stout Post Office closed in 1908. The school served other purposes after that.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Highland (Spring Canyon) School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Low water in Horsetooth reveals glimpse of past," Fort Collins Coloradoan
  • "Founded on Rock: Colorado's Stout Stone Industry," The Colorado Magazine 1974
  • "The Little Stone Schoolhouse on the Hill," Army & Navy News
  • "District 27 Annexed to City Unit by County School Head," Fort Collins Coloradoan
  • "Spring Canyon School Pupils of '90s Meet for Reunion at Bellvue Home," August 9, 1949

Lone Tree School, District #21
Lone Tree School, District #21

Lone Tree School, Loveland, District #21

The Lone Tree School was started in 1884 south and west of Loveland. The district was consolidated with district 2 in 1920. The original school sat on a knoll on South County Road 21 and was deteriorating by 1980. An interested group then moved it to the North Lake Park and made considerable improvements.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Lone Tree School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • The Lone Tree School, Mabel (Berner) Kenagy
  • "Pioneer School in Loveland," Senior Voice, October 1989

Michaud School, District #11, c. 1894
Michaud School, District #11, c. 1894

Michaud School, District #11

The actual date of this school's construction is unclear but pupils were noted by 1881. The brick building replaced the old frame one. The district became a part of Cache La Poudre in 1924 and the building was not well cared for. In 1986 it was purchased and fixed up.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Michaud School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • District #11- Michaud School, Erma L. Devers
  • 'Michaud School' Relic of '86
  • "Michaud School is named, First Man Naturalized in State Dies," Larimer County Independent, December 9, 1921

Pinewood School, Loveland
Pinewood School, Loveland

Pinewood School, Loveland, District #19

The first log school house was built in 1873. In 1904, there were so many students that they built a new schoolhouse about a quarter of a mile west of the old schoolhouse. In 1919, the old schoolhouse was torn down and the lumber used to build a new schoolhouse at the east end of Pinewood Lake. In 1957, the Pinewood School was consolidated with R2J and the little school house was not used for its original purpose anymore.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Pinewood School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Pinewood School District #19, 1873-1957
  • "Some called it 'Suicide Crossing,'" Senior Voice, January, 1985

Pleasant Valley School c. 1911
Pleasant Valley School c. 1911

Pleasant Valley School, District #7

The Pleasant Valley School was built in 1867 of beige colored stone and was about 6 miles northwest of Fort Collins. In 1886 the residents of Bellview formed their own school. In 1912, the La Porte district was consolidated ending 45 years of education in the hand-hewn stone school.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Pleasant Valley School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Pleasant Valley School District #7, Mrs. Harold (Wilma) Camden
  • "Lovely valley was setting for one of the oldest school districts," Triangle Review
  • Photo of 1904 class
  • Souvenir program from 1897-1898

Pleasant View School, District #16
Pleasant View School, District #16

Pleasant View School, District #16

In 1881 a group of pioneer settlers were offered a piece of land at the corner of South Shields and Drake for a school and the white frame school house opened later that year. By 1897 a new school was needed. The original school was moved and was part of a home until it demolition in 1986. A new brick one-room structure was built. In 1905, a second room was added. In the late 1920s a partial basement was excavated and a furnace installed. Finally, in 1959, the district was surrounded by Poudre R-1 and was absorbed by that district and the building demolished.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Pleasant View School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Pleasant View District #16 School, Helen Reisdorff
  • "Last bells of old school ring, problems remain," Triangle Review, July 4, 1974
  • "Effort made to save 'little red school house'," Fort Collins Coloradoan, July 9, 1974
  • "Survival fight ends for old school," Fort Collins Coloradoan, February 3, 1975
  • "DeSillio School before," The Collegian, February 6, 1975
  • "How school got name reveals nature," Fort Collins Coloradoan, August 15, 1978
  • "Farm land now grows new crop - houses," Fort Collins Coloradoan, December 1979
  • "All that's left is bell tower, eggs," Triangle Review, July 27, 1988
  • Other photos and preservation file

Plummer School, District #26

School District 26 was established in 1882. James Ezra Plummer gave a plot of land and a temporary structure served as a school until 1906. At that time a new school was constructed and given the name Plummer School. It is located on the northwest corner of Vine Drive and Summit View Drive. It served as a school until 1960 when the district was reorganized. The building has been restored and has had several owners since then.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Plummer School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • A Comprehensive Architectural and Historical Study of the Plummer School, Rebecca Coltrin
  • "Artists' exhibit aims to raise awareness," Fort Collins Coloradoan, June 11, 1999
  • "Plummer building in path of growth, bypass," Fort Collins Coloradoan, June 11, 1999
  • "At home in school," Fort Collins Coloradoan, November 20, 1986
  • "Saving the life of the old schoolhouse," Fort Collins Coloradoan, July 24, 1977
  • Other materials

Rocky Ridge School, May 12, 1931
Rocky Ridge School, May 12, 1931

Rocky Ridge School, District #41

The Rocky Ridge School was located north of Fort Collins along Colorado 1 north of Terry Lakes. It is referred to in 1936 and again in 1960. There were plans to sell it in 1984.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Rocky Ridge School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Rocky Ridge," Fort Collins Express-Courier, May 19, 1936
  • "PTA Will See Learning Aides at Rocky Ridge," Fort Collins Coloradoan, April 26, 1960
  • "Bid on school taken," June 10, 1984

Children in front of Round Butte School, c. 1913
Children in front of Round Butte School, c. 1913

Round Butte School, District #55

This school was about 20 miles northeast of Wellington. It was a one room frame school. There were 16 children attending the school in 1916. When the school district was reorganized the school was sold and moved to Waverly.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Round Butte School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Round Butte School, Erma L. Deavers

Soapstone School

In the early 1900s and through the 20s, there were several schools in the ranch country close to the Wyoming border. It closed in 1924.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Soapstone School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Soapstone - Baer home School, Erma L. Devers

Sunset School, District # 36

This school was located about a mile east of the cement plant, which didn't exist then. Later it was moved to Laporte.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Sunset School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • Old # 36, Sunset School, Esther Moore

District 34 Wellington, c. 1907-1916
District 34 Wellington, c. 1907-1916

Wellington School, District #34

The first schoolhouse in Wellington town limits was a two-story building built around 1902. The old frame building was replaced by a brick building in 1917. That was replaced by the new Eyestone Elementary School in 1973.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Wellington School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "School nostalgia of Naomie Cleaver Aldridge," October 15, 1981

Wellington School #1 c. 1967
Wellington School #1 c. 1967

Wellington High School

Wellington High School was built in 1926. The last senior class left in 1964. It was then used as a junior high until it was torn down in 1993.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Wellington High School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Memories of the Wellington School," Sr. Voice, August, 1993
  • "Mair recalls advantages of WHS," The North Forty News, September 1996

Windsor School

File contains Windsor School Roster.

LC - SCHOOLS - Rural - Windsor School
Subject Vertical File contains:

  • "Windsor School Roster," Fort Collins Express-Courier, September 24, 1933

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery          Poudre River Public Library District
Preserving the history of Fort Collins, Colorado & the Cache la Poudre region