11/20/2025
100 Years Ago . . .
On Sunday morning, November 20, 1925, the Vinland Schoolhouse was destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire initially was reported as unknown, but John Walton later attributed the fire to “tramps” in his brief history of the school district. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was just about a 1/4-mile west of the schoolhouse.
The schoolhouse was about 3/4 miles north of Vinland, on the north side of William E. Barnes’ well-known nursery and vineyards. William E. and Gertrude Barnes had deeded the building site for Vinland District No. 49 on February 1, 1870.
In “Rural Schools and schoolhouses of Douglas County, Kansas,” published in 1975, author Goldie Piper Daniels, said the Vinland schoolhouse was built by Swedish stone mason Lewis Swanson, who also had built the Coal Creek and Harmony schoolhouses. It was similar to Harmony except it was limestone instead of sandstone and was about four feet longer and wider.
Since the schoolhouse was the first public building in the community, it served many purposes. Sunday services and revivals were held here before the Methodist and Presbyterian churches were built. Grange meetings took place in the school before a Grange Hall was built. The community met here for a wide range of gatherings – including political, literary, Temperance and prohibition meetings.
Some of its first teachers included William H. Gill, Jim Banta, Martha (Cutter) Kelley Gill. Daniels wrote that in the 1897-98 school term, Julia D. Miller taught 63 pupils for a monthly salary of $40.
In her book, Daniels shared a description of the school provided by a former pupil, Herve Hoskinson. He said it faced east with two doors and a window on the front, three windows on the north and south, and a chimney and two windows on the west end. The two front doors opened into anterooms with a platform between, on which stood the teacher’s desk. The schoolhouse was equipped with double seats and two blackboards between the windows on each side.
Students who lived in the town of Vinland often walked to school through the Pine Walk, a widely-known landmark on William E. Barnes’ property. Barnes, who had no children, was affectionately known to the school children as “Uncle B.” At noon and recess periods, the students were allowed to help themselves to fruit in the pear and apple orchards that adjoined the school grounds. According to Daniels, “To insure their getting as much as they wanted, the kindly old gentleman always appeared with a large basketful to pass out among them.”
The first schoolhouse served the district for about 55 years before it was destroyed by fire. Classes were not held in the week after the fire, but classes resumed in the high school. The Lawrence Daily Journal-World reported on December 3 that “Robert Laughlin drove to Topeka Tuesday and brought back a truck load of desks for the use of the Vinland grade school pupils.”
A special election was held February 25, 1926, to vote on an $8,000 bond to erect a new school building. In a vote of 36 to 29, district patrons voted against the bond.
But a new brick and stone schoolhouse did get built. The treasurer’s book shows the district received $500 in insurance for equipment in December 1925 and $2,020 in insurance on the building in March 1926. The treasurer’s book shows balance on hand of $2,406.83 on April 9, 1926. The treasurer’s book shows loans totaling $2,350 from Charles S. Anderson and a loan of $1,000 from William H. Hoskinson.
Vinland news items in the Lawrence Journal-World on April 17, 1926, reported “Mr. and Mrs. Neeley of Topeka, Kan., have moved to Vinland where they will stay during the building of the Vinland grade school as Mr. Neeley has the contract.” This couple was Charley and Clara (Nichols) Neely, who had both grown up in the Harmony district near Vinland.
The treasurer’s book shows that from April through August 1926, A.C. Neely and numerous other men were paid for labor. Other expenses included hauling brick, trucking, lumber, steel for supports, hardware and building material. In August, Carl Heinrich was paid for painting, Sid Porter was paid for plastering and W.S. Parsons was paid for cleaning the cistern.
By September 1926, expenses on the books included window shades, books, desks, black board, a basketball and coal. On October 1, 1926, William A. “Bill” Roe was paid $100 for a month of teaching.
The rebuilt school building was used until Vinland District #49 consolidated with Districts #3 (Stony Point), #39 (Coal Creek) and #57 (Harmony) to form Vinland Consolidated School District #88 in 1947.
The brick schoolhouse was sold at auction by the County Superintendent and purchased for $1,310 by George Hoskinson. It was later remodeled into a home, which it remains today.
