Reed Schoolhouse

Reed School was originally named Pleasant Ridge, which was the first school in the Neillsville area. The name reflected the beautiful views that inspired early farmers to settle there. In 1878 the building was moved to land donated by Thomas and Lucretia Reed. In honor of this donation, the school was renamed Reed School.

In February 1915 Reed School burned to the ground. In response to the fire, the School Board of Grant Township District 1 authorized the construction of the current Reed School that same year. The new concrete “brick” structure, measuring 30 feet x 50 feet, was relatively unusual for the World War I era. It boasted a concrete foundation and a wood-frame bell tower. The outside surface of each concrete brick consisted of a row of three low-relief pyramids. It served as a one-room country school through 1951, providing a first- through eighth-grade education with only one teacher.

The Pleasant Ridge community took pride in its new schoolhouse. Though it was a modern up-to-date building for its time, Reed School lacked some basic amenities we enjoy today. There was no indoor plumbing and the property never had a well. Students used two outhouses in the schoolyard, one for girls and the other for boys. Drinking water was carried in milk cans to the school from a neighboring farm. Electricity didn’t come until 1941.

The school is typical of the more than 6,000 one-room schools that dotted the landscape of rural Wisconsin. This type of school formed the basis of the educational system for rural children in the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Reed School offers visitors a unique interpretation of country school life by focusing on the first half of the 20th century, specifically 1939. Most similar museums focus on 19th-century education.

Come explore Reed School. See one of the finest examples of rural education in Wisconsin’s history.

Sources: Wisconsin Historical Society and Clark County Visitor’s Guide 2012-2013 Edition