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Local History

Liberty School

Oshtemo Township

Location: District #4 Fractional – Section 3, southeast corner of G Avenue and 7th Street.

Kalamazoo County 1890, Published by Wm. C. Sauer. Local History Room

Liberty Street School, undated. Photo courtesy of Alamo Township Museum.

It is not clear how many buildings stood at this location, but the one that was there in 1917 was destroyed in an early April fire. After the 1954-55 school year, Liberty School appears to have been absorbed into the Oshtemo Community School District. After that it continued to be listed in rural directories through 1960, but it is not clear whether classes were actually held there that long.

Teachers

1925-26 Arbutus Saddler
1927-28 Esther L. King
1929-32 Ruth Reynolds
1932-34 Belma Peters
1934-39 Eldoreen Barnes
1939-41 Molly Smith
1941-43 Ruth Reynolds
1943-45 Veronica Kailing
1945-47 Eva L. Burns
1947-54 Cora L. Flora
1954-55 Marianne Graybiel

Liberty Street School, undated
Liberty Street School class 1904

Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library, 1999. Mapped October 2008. Last updated 2 November 2021.

Sources

Maps and atlases

USGS topographic map for Kalamazoo County, 1918 (Kalamazoo Quadrangle)

  • History Room topographic map case, drawer 7A, folder 21A

Article

“Country school is destroyed by fire”

  • Kalamazoo Gazette, 3 April 1917, page 9, column 3

Files

Directory of teachers and school officers, Kalamazoo County, 1925-55

  • Shelved in a pamphlet box with H 379.774 K149 (History Room Storage)

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