District No. 10 / Oshtemo Village

Oshtemo Township

Location: Section 35, south side of Stadium Drive, 800 feet west of 9th Street.

Existing brick school building (District No. 10) was built in 1870. It replaced an earlier frame schoolhouse, most likely at the same location.

In 1899, portions of Districts No. 14 and District No. 2 (fractional) were incorporated into District No. 10.

Addition built in 1928 by Kalamazoo architect Gilbert G. Worden at a cost of $10,000.

“Oshtemo township residents living in and near the northern portion of section 35 in the mid-1800’s, established School District Number 10. The earliest available school inspector’s reports from 1859, recorded that 43 students attended school in District 10 in that year. In 1866, the frame schoolhouse in that district was valued at $500.00. By the end of the 1860’s, District 10 had the largest population of children between the ages of five and twenty, of all of the districts in the township. Ninety-six children lived in the district in 1868 and this may have contributed to the decision to build the 1870 Schoolhouse.

“The people of Oshtemo School District Number 10 obviously had more than average interest in their school, to have supported the construction of a new brick schoolhouse in 1870. From September, 1870, to August of 1871, the district raised over $1200 from sources other than taxes. This additional money, which helped to pay for the new school, was almost four times the amount budgeted for operating the school for the entire year of 1870. When it was completed, the 1870 Schoolhouse was one of only two brick schooolhouses in the township and was valued at $4500. District Number 10 employed two teachers in 1870, one male and one female. They each worked four months, with the male teacher receiving $180, and the female $120.

“The District Number 10 school continued to be supported by the community. The addition constructed in the 1920’s, nearly doubled the size of the building. Current owner [1997], Richard Spigelmyer, was told by a former student of the school, that the addition was greatly appreciated because it included an indoor bathroom.

“The building remained the property of the Kalamazoo school system until 1974. Prior to that time, it may have served as a community center.”

— Taken from research done by Beth Timmerman that was included in “Historic Preservation in Oshtemo Township,” by  Pamela Hall O’Connor (see source list below), and is used here with permission.

Teachers

“Much credit is due Miss Hobden, the teacher, for her able manner in conducting her school.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 11 July 1889

1878: Della Anderson, Ola[sic] Cooper (Orra M. Cooper)
1879: Orra M. Cooper
1880-1881: Ashley Clapp, Esq., Lottie Clark
1889-90: Sada Hobden
1890-91: Sada Hobden
1891: Sada Hobden
1897: Miss Bigsby
1901 (spring): D.E. Morrison
1901 (fall): Ethel Kinney, Grace Hartwick (principal)
1904: J.H. McLaughlin, Maida Henson (principal)
1905: Myrtle Skinner, Ida Bixby (principal)
1911: Edith Sweetland
1925-26: Irene Wilson, Myrtle Bauserman

After the 1925-26 school year, teachers for the District #10 School cease to be listed in the county school directories, without explanation. It may possibly be what became known as District #12 that was listed with the town and graded schools, rather than with the rural schools, but so far, we have been unable to document that.

Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library, 1999. Last updated 20 March 2025.