Prairie Edge School / School No. 8

Portage Township

Original Location: District #8 Fractional – Section 32, east side of Oakland Drive, north of Osterhout Road.

This Greek Revival style school was built in 1856 on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Booth. After it ceased to be used for classes in 1946, it was sold and used as a home, business and storage facility. The city bought it back in 1990 and moved it to the Celery Flats Interpretive and Historical Center in Portage, where it has been beautifully restored.

Teachers

1849-50 Charles I. Roberts, winter term
1852-53 Joseph C. Divers, winter term
1853 Mary E. Burson, summer term
1853-54 Reuben Booth, winter term
1854 Miss E. A. Cole, summer term
1854-55 James G. Brockway, winter term
1855 Hellen Tisdale, summer term
1856 Sarah A. Tissdale, summer term
1858 Amanda Smith, summer term
1858-59 George Hall, winter term
1859 Mary E. Payson, summer term
1859-60 Nellie Cahill, winter term
1860 Geraldine Ingersoll, part of winter term
1860 Sarah E. Russell, spring term
1861-62 Henryeta Canper, winter term
1862 Amelia F. Booth, summer term
1862 Adaline Hathaway, fall term
1862-63 Amelia F. Booth, winter term
1863-64 Henryetta Trumbal, winter term
1864 Atd Seperis (?), summer term
1865 Edgar Brown, winter term
1866 Harriet Wallace, summer term
1867 Loella Allord, summer term
1867 Samuel Marsh, winter term, dismissed after 22 days
1868 Mrs. Thomson, winter/spring? term
1868 Emma Reed, summer term
1869-70 Emma Reed, winter term
1870 Mary Law, summer term
1870-71 Alice Everett, winter term
1871-73 Ella Lanning
1873-74 Sarah McEldowney, fall and winter terms
1874 Hatti Whitcomb, summer term
1874-75 George T. Hall, winter term
1875 Anna C. Fulk, summer term
1875-76 Samuel Marsh, winter term
1876 Stella Brundage, summer term
1876-77 Samuel Marsh, winter term
1877 Evlin Bonfoey, summer term
1877-1878 Walter Cooley, winter term
1878 Ida A. Hall, summer term
1878 Madison Bailey, fall term
1878-79 George T. Hall, winter term
1879 Sarah Belle Booth, summer and fall terms
1879-80 Adaline Hathaway, winter term
1880 Ida A. Hall, summer term
1880 Ella May Pierce, fall term
1880-81 Adaline Hathaway, winter term
1881 Maud Buckland, spring term
1881-82 Wallis Hathway, winter term
1882 Adelade Hathaway, spring term
1882 Ella May Pierce, summer term
1884 A. C. Hathaway, winter/spring terms
1884-85 H. Olivia Kelly, winter/spring/fall terms
1888-89 Jennie E. Nash, fall and winter terms
1889 Hattie Mason, spring term
1889 Annie S. Thompson, fall term
1889-90 May Belle, winter and spring terms
1890-91 Mae (May) Bylardt, fall and winter terms
1891 Jennie E. Nash, spring term
1891-92 Anna Campbell, fall and winter terms
1892-1893 Mabel Chubb, spring, fall, spring terms
1893-94 Bessie Thompson, fall, winter, spring terms
1894 Nellie Hagerty, fall term
1894-95 Flora J. Taylor, winter, spring, fall terms
1921-22 Jean E. Tolman
1925-26 Eleanor Matteson
1927-28 Mrs. Mary Keefer
1929-36 Mrs. Susie Kaylor
1936-38 Mrs. Beatrice Myers
1938-43 Mrs. Helen Wiles
1943-44 Mrs. Frieda V. D. Rainier
1944-46 Mrs. Ruth Amey
1946-47 no longer listed in county school directories, but probably absorbed into the “town and graded schools.”

Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library, 1999. Mapped October 2008. Last updated 14 April 2022.