Sprucing up the schoolhouse
Eagle Scout project makes historic building more accessible
Photo by Deb Gau Scout Troop 320 member Dante Thomas led efforts to build an expanded sidewalk outside the historic one-room schoolhouse at the Lyon County Fairgrounds. Thomas' project also added an interpretive sign.
Photo by Deb Gau Thomas said the new sign outside the schoolhouse talks about the building's history, and even its links to past renovation projects by Troop 320.
Photo by Deb Gau Scout Troop 320 member Dante Thomas led efforts to build an expanded sidewalk outside the historic one-room schoolhouse at the Lyon County Fairgrounds. Thomas' project also added an interpretive sign.
Photo by Deb Gau Thomas said the new sign outside the schoolhouse talks about the building's history, and even its links to past renovation projects by Troop 320.
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MARSHALL -- A historic one-room schoolhouse at the Lyon County Fairgrounds has a new look now, thanks to an Eagle Scout project by Dante Thomas. Thomas was at the fairgrounds this weekend, and spoke about the process that led up to a new concrete sidewalk and interpretive sign being installed outside the schoolhouse.
Thomas, a member of Boy Scout Troop 320 of Marshall, said the new sidewalk makes the building more accessible for people with disabilities. Meanwhile, the sign gives more information about the school.
"It shows kind of where it used to sit, and some more history," Thomas explained. Many visitors didn't know a lot about the schoolhouse, other than that it used to stand behind West Side Elementary in Marshall, he said.
The Lyon County Historical Society maintains the former School District 80 schoolhouse, which was built in Westerheim Township along the Yellow Medicine River. The one-room school building was moved a few times in its history - first to the fairgrounds, and then to the grounds of the former West Side Elementary in 1994. When West Side closed in 2021, the schoolhouse moved back to the fairgrounds.
Thomas said his relationship with the museum - and the schoolhouse - went back further than his Eagle Scout project.
"I've been kind of involved with the museum since we moved up here," Thomas said.
About three years ago, Thomas started selling firestarters at the area Kindlmarkt held at the Marshall Area YMCA. That project turned into a fundraiser to help replace broken windows at the schoolhouse.
Thomas said got the idea to do an accessibility project at the schoolhouse after a visit last year. He noticed that muddy conditions and a short sidewalk would make it hard for people using mobility aids to get to the schoolhouse.
"We started trying to get contractors in April 2025," Thomas said. He also did fundraising work for the project.
An expanded sidewalk and the new interpretive sign were installed earlier this month, just in time for the Lyon County Fair. Babcock Construction did the concrete work, Marshall Machine Shop donated the sign holder, and Western Print Group donated the graphic sign. Thomas said he worked with Jennifer Andries and Paul Evanson at the Lyon County Museum for historical information and photos included on the sign.
Thomas said the expanded sidewalk not only gives people a clearer way to get to the schoolhouse, but it also provided a place for the Historical Society to display another artifact - a horse-drawn road grader once used by Clifton Township.
Now, Thomas said, "When the county is out here to mow, they don't have to trim around (the grader)."
Thomas said one interesting thing he learned was that his Eagle Scout project wasn't the first one to help the schoolhouse. In 1994, Brian Brooks of Troop 320 helped renovate the building's exterior, and in 2004, Stacy Wilmert of Troop 320 led a project to scrape and re-paint the schoolhouse.