The School House
The schoolhouse was built, on its original site one mile to the east of the farm, in 1876. The building was moved from the west side to the east side of the road there at an unknown date. It was significantly increased in size through an extension of 12 feet of classroom space around the turn of the century, due to the large number of students. To make this enlargement, the back of the building was removed, the walls extended, two new windows added, and the back wall reattached, and a new wall installed to separate the entry from the classroom. The seams can be seen on the interior walls. The building has had at least two entries, one a small square, the other a larger entry and coal bin.
The building was in operation from 1876 to 1938 as a public school and until 1948 as a parochial school. It was owned by Norman Thompson for forty years, then donated by the Lien family to Warren Heen, who planned to turn it into a museum. The building was prepared for a move to the farm, by him, in l988. The bell tower and entry were removed by Warren , Robert Lien, Harlen Lien and Les Leese. Floor joists were reinforced and a block foundation was laid at the farm.
Written by Carol L. Heen, 1997
Following the death of Warren Heen, the schoolhouse was moved, almost on schedule, on December 16,1988. A crew led by Steve Miller and Les Heen took great pains to re-create exactly the fancy shingling pattern on the bell tower, a beautiful decorative feature of the schoolhouse. Three carpenters built the schoolhouse in 1876. 113 years later, Bert Holien, grandson of one of the three carpenters, led the repair and restoration project. Bert was unaware of his grandfather’s role in the history until late in the second year of the work, when original school board records from 1875-78 were discovered by the Eide family. The building was electrified for the first time and a new light pole installed nearby. The community worked on the building for two years, and it opened in the fall of 1990 as The Warren Heen Memorial Hillcrest School. By 1996, the museum had had visitors from 40 states and 5 foreign countries. School children are frequent visitors. Additional information and photos for this project are available in the museum.
Designed by Mickey Reed