Still standing, ready for the highest bidder
By Robert Wolfington IIIArticle Photos
ARCO - The boys entered the Arco school building through one door, the girls through another.
Llewellyn Madsen attended school in Arco from first grade until she was a sophomore.
The two entrances to the school haven't been used much over the last 40 years, but Madsen remembers them well.
"The girls were never allowed to go into the boys entrance when I was going to school," said Madsen. "They always said, 'get out of here' when you would go into the boys entrance."
Kids went through those entrances until 1967 when the school closed.
Now, Lincoln County, the default owner of the property, will try and sell the school and the land at an auction on Oct. 15.
The school may not have had students after 1967, but there were various attempts to continue using the building.
Mary Maertens, a native of the Arco area, didn't attend school there but she did spend time in the classrooms as a kid.
When Maertens was 5 or 6 the school had a laundromat on the first floor.
While her mom did laundry, Maertens and her brother would play on the second floor.
"The old desks were upstairs and the steps were those big, wide steps," Maertens said. "My brother and I would run around and up and down the (second floor)."
"There was a laundromat on the main floor," Maertens said. "There were washers on one side and dryers on the other side. They had folding tables in the center."
Maertens' mom had a ringer washer in those days and would bring her dad's coveralls and other large items to the laundromat and use the automatic washers.
Madsen said the school was a big part of her family's life. Her husband and their children attended school in Arco.
"I think everyone got a good start there," said Madsen. "Classes weren't awfully big and they got to know a lot of people through the community."
"They had some good ideas; the school was very good," said Madsen. "It was good for our kids; our grandkids never went there, they ended up going to Ivanhoe."
The book "Arco, the First Hundred Years 1903-2003," compiled by community members, includes the history of the school district.
The book said the first public school district in Arco was formed in 1901 and classes were held in the home of Porter resident Erick Pedersen.
A two-room schoolhouse was built in 1903, Arco, The First Hundred Years said.
In 1919 the 18-room Arco school building was built and opened in 1920, the book said.
Madsen said the school building likely was never finished completely. She said a gym addition that had been talked about was never completed.
"When they first built it, they were supposed to build on the west side," said Madsen. "They were going to build a gym and build on more to the west further. Our gym was actually the town hall."
Madsen remembers going across town from the school building to the community hall for gym class.
"For our phys ed class we had to run to the town hall and then we had to run back to the school, take a shower and try to catch the bus," said Madsen. "That wasn't very easy."
Anna Holm Beachler, a student at the Arco school from 1931 to 1934, remembered her time at the school in the book "Arco, The First Hundred Years."
"The high school only had two teachers and the superintendent at the time," said Holm Beachler. "Classes were combined with freshmen and sophomores in one, and juniors and seniors in the other."
Students at the school took a state-required series of exams, Holm Beachler said.
"We had to pass state boards to graduate," Holm Beachler said. "There was some time between tests so we went to Blegen's Cafe and helped wash dishes."
Madsen said the community had a difficult time keeping teachers at the school. Many of them were unmarried during their time in Arco.
"If they got married, they were done," said Madsen. "They didn't have any married teachers. Most of them were young."
In 1943 the Arco School District began sending seniors to the Ivanhoe Public School and continued to eliminate classes in Arco. Only a kindergarten class remained in 1966.
Earlier this month, the Lincoln County Board voted to put the school and land up for auction. Lincoln County Commissioner Joan Jagt said the school recently became the county's property because of tax forfeiture. Jagt said the county's decision for the auction is an attempt to make something happen with the site.
"Something has to be done with it," said Jagt. "It's a hazard sitting there the way it is and it would be costly to do something with it. We want to at least see if something would happen at an auction."
"They had kept it up nice," Maertens said of those who owned the old school when it had the laundromat. "It's kind of sad now. I always thought it should have been turned into something."
Many of the windows in the school building have been broken and trees have grown around the paths that lead to the entrance, where those separate boys and girls entrances are.
Later generations didn't use the separate doors quite as much, Madsen said.
"I think as time went on they didn't really use them that much," Madsen said.
These days the doors aren't used at all. After Oct. 15, they could eventually be gone.
Rae Kruger contributed to this story.
