Yorkville School (later Wildermuth)

Ross Township

Location: District #9 fractional – 11775 East D Avenue; Section 19, north side of East D Avenue east of 37th Street.

School Buildings

The following two paragraphs and the list of teachers through 1941 are taken verbatim from volume 36 of the Meader Collection. Teachers after the 1941-42 school year are taken from the county school directories.

Yorkville School was first housed just north of the site of the Yorkville Church. That was prior to 1839. Among those who attended there were Helen Caryl, Abbie Fox, Forrest Fox, Belden Phillips, Frank Kane, Lizzie Kane. No photograph of this building is available.

The second building, a photograph of which is attached, was erected on the site of the present building in the fall of 1882. In this building Lillie Morey was the first teacher. This building was used until 1919, when the present structure was erected and the old building was sold to Arthur Howell and remodeled for a dwelling. It is the first house east of the Roman Catholic chapel on the same side of M 89. The purchase price was $175.00.

The third building was enlarged in 1956 and renamed Wildermuth Elementary School in honor of long-time principal Hazel Wildermuth when she retired in 1971. The school was closed at the end of the 1980-81 school year, but the building served as the administration building for Gull Lake Community School District until it finally closed in 2015.

Hazel Wildermuth was a legend in Yorkville. After having taught in several small schools early in her career, she taught and served as the principal of Yorkville School for 50 years. At her retirement, she had been a practicing teacher longer than anyone in the country.

Teachers

Among the teachers who have taught in the Yorkville School are the following:
1891 – Forrest Fox taught the school;
1894 – Elida Browne taught the winter term with 23 scholars, among them Glenn and Roy Graham, James and Belden Phillips and Ray Johnson; Cleo Ide taught the next fall with 19 scholars;
1895 – Elida Browne taught the spring term with 20 scholars; Ina Snover taught the next fall term with 24 scholars;
1896 – Ina Snover taught the winter term with 21 scholars; Blanche Thorpe taught the spring term with 21 scholars; she also taught the fall term that year with 22 scholars;
1897 – Blanche Thorpe was the teacher with 23 scholars for the winter term; C. W. Oakley was the teacher for the spring term with 15 scholars; T. G. Foster taught the fall term with 19 scholars;
1898 – T. G. Foster taught both winter and spring terms with 20 scholars in the winter and 12 in the spring; Cora Amanda Gay taught the fall term with 21 scholars;
1899 – Cora Amanda Gay taught both winter and spring terms, with 22 scholars in the winter and 17 in the spring; Alleyne Sweetland taught the fall term with 22 scholars;
1900 – Alleyne Sweetland taught both winter and spring terms with 24 scholars in the winter and 26 in the spring; Ruby Babcock taught the next fall term with 26 scholars;
1901 – Ruby Babcock taught with 28 scholars in the winter term and 19 in the spring term; Laura Haight taught the fall term 17 scholars;
1902 – Laura Haight taught the winter term with 16 scholars; George Wandell taught the spring term with 16 scholars;
1908 – Humphrey Daniels taught the fall term with 25 scholars;
1909 – Humphrey Daniels taught the winter, spring and fall terms with scholars 27, 22 and 25 respectively;
1910 – Humphrey Daniels taught the winter, spring and fall terms with scholars 33, 32 and 32 respectively;
1911 – Karl L. Kelser taught winter, spring and fall terms with scholars 24, 19 and 26 respectively;
1912 – Mary G. Cromb taught winter and fall terms with scholars 26 and 32 respectively;
1913 – Hazel Nevins taught with 29 scholars;
1914 – Mabel M. Leonard was the teacher with 21 scholars;
1915 – Mabel M. Leonard teacher with 37 scholars;
1916 – Mabel M. Leonard teacher with 37 scholars;
1917 – Mabel M. Leonard, teacher, with 30 scholars;
1918 – Mabel M. Leonard, teacher, winter and spring terms with 40 scholars; Humphrey Daniels taught the fall term with 51 scholars;
1919 – Humphrey Daniels taught the winter and spring terms with 41 scholars in the spring; Laura Hagelshaw taught the fall term with 41 scholars;
1920 – Laura Hagelshaw taught the winter and spring terms with scholars 29 in winter and 34 in spring;
1921 – Hazel Nevins taught with Lyle Crandall in charge of the highter grades;

Source: Meader Collection, Volume 36

1922 – Hazel Nevins and Lyle Crandall were the teachers;
1923 – Hazel Nevins and Lyle Crandall were the teachers;
1924 – Hazel Nevins Mullen and Edna Shuster were the teachers;
1925 – Hazel Nevins Mullen Wildermuth and Edna Shuster were the teachers;
1926 – Mrs. Wildermuth and Clifford Dixon were teachers; Mr. Dixon quit before the year was out and Mrs. June Tullson finished the year;
1927-30 – Mrs. Wildermuth and Roy McIntyre were the teachers;
1930-33 – Mrs. Wildermuth and Forrest Gould were teachers;
1933-35 – Mrs. Wildermuth and Walter Gorsline were teachers;
1935-1936 – Mrs. Wildermuth and Florence Maurer, teachers;
1936-45 – Mrs. Wildermuth and Mrs. Lucile Greer were the teachers, the former teaching the higher grades and the latter the lower grades.
1945-46 – Mrs. Hazel Wildermuth and Ruth MacDonald
1946-47 – Mrs. Hazel Wildermuth
1947-48 – Mrs. Hazel Wildermuth, Superintendent; Mary Lindsey, Hildegarde Sweitzer. Began to be listed with the “Town and Graded School.”
1948-50 – Mrs. Hazel Wildermuth, Principal and Jr. High; Evelyn Patten, Later El.; Hildegarde Sweitzer, Early El.
1951-52 – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, 6th, 7th, 8th grades; Evelyn Patten, 4th and 5th grades; Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade; Virginia Scott, 2nd and 3rd grades
1952-53 – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, 6th, 7th 8th grades; Evelyn Patten, 4th and 5th grades; Virginia Scott, 2nd and 3rd grades; Hildegarde Sweitzer, Kdg. and 1st grades
1953-54 – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, 6th, 7th and 8th grades; Marian Barkley, 4th and 5th grades; Virginia Scott, 2nd and 3rd grades; Hildegarde Sweitzer, Kindergarten & 1st grade
1954-55 – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, 6th-7th-8th grades; Marian Barkley, 4th and 5th grades; Wanda Mendocha, Kindergarten; Virginia Scott, 2nd and 3rd grades; Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade
1955-57 – Mrs. Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, 7th and 8th grades; Mrs. Marian Barkley, 5th and 6th grades; Mrs. Virginia Scott, 2nd grade; Mrs. Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade; Mrs. Wanda Mendocha, Kindergarten; Mrs. Ruth DeYot, 3rd and 4th grades; Mrs. Florence Arnett, Music
1957-58 – Hazel Wildermuth, 7th, 8th grades; Marian Barkley, 5th, 6th grades; Ruth DeYot, 3rd, 4th grades; Doris Kirkbride, Kindergarten; Virginia Scott, 2nd grade; Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade; Grace Hardy, Music
1958-59 – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, Marian Barkley, Ruth DeYot, Grace Hardy, Doris Kirkbride, Virginia Scott, Hildegarde Sweitzer
1959-60 – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, 7th, 8th grades; Marian Barkley, 5th, 6th grades; Grace Hardy, music; Doris Kirkbride, Kindergarten; Virginia Scott, 2nd grade; Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade; Lennie Taylor, 3rd, 4th grades
1960-61 – Hazel Wildermuth, Supt. 7th & 8th grades; Marian Barkley, 5th, 6th grades; Grace hardy, Music; Doris Kirkbride, Kindergarten; Wanda Mendocha, 3rd grade; Virginia Scott, 2nd grade; Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade; Lennie Taylor, 4th grade
1961-62 – Hazel Wildermuth, Supt. 7th & 8th grades; Marian Barkley, 5th, 6th grades; Grace Hardy, Music; Doris Kirkbride, 4th grade; Wanda Mendocha, 3rd grade; Virginia Scott, 2nd grade; Hildegarde Sweitzer, 1st grade; Lennie Taylor, Kindergarten
1962-63 – Listed as Yorkville Elementary School – Hazel Wildermuth, Principal, Sixth Grade; Marian Barkley, Fifth Grade; Grace Hardy, Music; Madge Ladd, Instrumental Music; Wanda Mendocha, Third Grade; Virginia Scott, Second Grade; Hildegarde Sweitzer, First Grade, Lena Taylor, Kindergarten

Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Librarian, Kalamazoo Public Library, March 2012. Last updated 26 October 2021.