The May 6, 2014 program
for the Spearfish Area Historical Society was held at the Centennial Valley
Schoolhouse, followed by a discussion by Hank Frawley back at the
Spearfish Senior Citizens Center. The tour group packed the
schoolhouse on the cool, rainy evening.
The one-room schoolhouse
has been restored all the way down to the maps and the chalkboards on the walls
and the desks and pot-bellied stove. They added an outhouse and two
century-old, cast-iron merry-go-rounds and a cast-iron slide for
authenticity.
The schoolhouse was restored by Denver developer,
Daryll Propp, German partner Mike Kreke representing Douglas
Holdings, and supported by monies from the Outside of Deadwood Grant
Program.
Centennial Schoolhouse
was originally built in 1880.
In recent years, second
grade students from Spearfish move their studies to the schoolhouse for an
entire day. Although their follow-up written comments are mostly
about the cast-iron merry-go-round, the experience of living and learning as
their great-great grandparents did is likely one they will remember.
