Alamo Center School
Rural School in Alamo Township
Location: (District #1) – section 21, a little west of 6th Street on south side of D Avenue.
Kalamazoo County 1890, Wm. C. Sauer. Local History Room
Alamo Center School, c.1910. Photo courtesy of Alamo Township Museum.
Details
Built in 1873, but preceded by two other buildings on nearby sites. The east room was added in 1896 for high school classes. Eleven diplomas were awarded at the first high school graduation in 1902. The high school functioned for about a dozen years. Annexed to the Otsego school district in 1957, it was last used for classes in 1960. It was used as a home for many years, but was destroyed by fire 22 June 1992.
“The old building has played hostess to spelldowns, oratorical contests and debates, box socials, and has been the stage for countless plays and programs. It has served as a meeting hall, and the social center of the community, ….”
Teachers
1890 Minnie C. Shutt?
1891-93 Minnie C. Shutt
1892 P. S. Burnham (winter term)
1893 Austin H. Harmon (winter term)
1893-94 Flora Garrison
1894 Ines Barbour
1898-99 A. M. Nutten
1900 A. M. Nutten, Carrie Dix
1901 A. M. Nutten
1906 Bessie Reynolds, Henry Walsh, George Callender
1907 George Callender, A. W. Frazer (fall term)
1908 A. G. Bowne, Walter & Vera Rector (all for spring term)
1909 probably Walter Rector
1922 Hazel Sweet
1925-26 Hazel Sweet
1927-30 Rosa Norton
1930-33 Hazel E. Richards
1933-34 Arlene Campbell
1934-36 Bernice Bissell
1936-37 Martha Hoyt
1937-42 Wilma Ryder
1942-44 Frances Riley
1944-48 Katherine Eash
1948-49 Katherine Eash, Ellamae Porath
1949-50 Katherine Eash, Elizabeth Jackson
1950-51 Unknown
1951-52 Katherine Eash
1952-53 Janice Matina, Mildred Clapp
1953-54 Eleanor S. Prichard, Frances Fox
1954-55 Carol Neumann, Eva Gowell
1955-56 Eva Gowell, Marian Seehafer
1956-57 Eva Gowell, Jean Maxwell
Photo by Sarah Hultmark, c.1981, History Room Photo File P-1295.
Class Photos
Alamo Center School class 1893
Alamo Center School class 1897
Annual meeting minutes, 1907
Alamo Center School class 1956
See also additional photos on Flickr.
Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library, 1999. Mapped October 2008. Last updated 14 October 2021.
Sources
Books
Alamo Township, most northwest corner of Kalamazoo County, Michigan: past and present
Snow, Florence
Published by the Author, 1958
H 977.417 S67, pages 23, 31 & 43
Manual of the Public Schools of Kalamazoo County, Michigan for 1898-1899
J. W. Hazard, Commissioner of Schools
Kalamazoo: Ihling Bros. & Everard, Printers, 1898
History Room Orange Dot File: Education (Kalamazoo County)
Articles
“Rural schools break records in attendance”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 31 January 1923, page 13, column 2.
Copy in Education (Kalamazoo County) Scrapbook #1, page 1.
“Alamo Center School closes doors on 87-year history”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 5 June 1960, page 15, column 2
“Old Alamo school burns”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 23 June 1992, page A1, column 2
Manuscripts
List of one-room schools still standing in Kalamazoo County in 1982
Hultmark, Sarah.
Manuscript, Local History Collection, Kalamazoo Public Library
District Record, School District #1, Alamo Twp., Kalamazoo County, 1890-1909
Original loaned for scanning by the Alamo Township Museum.
Maps and Atlases
Map of Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Geil & Harley, Philadelphia. 1861
History Room atlas case, left shelf #2
Atlas of Kalamazoo County, Michigan from Recent and Actual Surveys and Records
F.W. Beers & Co., New York. 1873
Library of Congress
Illustrated atlas of Kalamazoo County [Michigan] with early and present history of Kalamazoo County
Sauer, William C.
Wm. C. Sauer, Detroit. 1890
History Room atlas case, left shelf #1
Standard atlas of Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1910
History Room atlas case, left shelf #1
USGS topographic map for Kalamazoo County, 1918 (Kalamazoo Quadrangle)
History Room topographic map case, drawer 7A, folder 21A
Files
History Room Subject File: Alamo Center School
Teachers’ and School Officers’ Directory, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, 1925-1957 (title varies)
Shelved in a pamphlet box with H 379.774 K149 (History Room Storage)