Garrison School
The Garrison School is a one room schoolhouse that will be 175 years old in 2025. Columbia County Wisconsin children attended school in the building from 1850 to 1960. It was used by the rural community for a variety of purposes such as church services, a town hall, a courthouse, a library, and 4-H meetings after 1910.
The one room school was built before 1850 with parents and early settlers providing the resources for the materials. It was built in the Winnebago District of Columbia County after the U.S. Army Soldiers and families of Fort Winnebago were garrisoned elsewhere. The Fort Winnebago area did not have an official school building as the wives of officers and soldiers taught their own children and they included the children of the Wisconsin Territory. When a Fort Winnebago Officer hired an official teacher for his children, all children in the area were included in the Fort Winnebago classes.
The building has been moved twice. It was built on Fort Winnebago Reserve land and moved in 1878 to the corner of Military Road and Garrison School Road to be more centered in the school district. When it closed in 1960, The Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution agreed to care for the building and one dollar was exchanged in the purchase. It was moved in December 1960 to its current location at Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters Historic Site (FWSQ). Interesting features include it original chalkboard, windows and two entry doors, one for boys and one for girls.
The Wisconsin Daughters have preserved the building as a one room school. It is filled with one room school artifacts: a 37 star United States of America Flag, a teacher's desk, various sizes of student desks, a potbelly stove, a horse's anchor, pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, a Hamilton organ c 1890, oil lanterns, a crock water container, a wooden snow shovel, McGuffey Readers, individual antique student slates and more. The Garrison School is part of the Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters Historic Site and is open to the public from May 15 to October 15. Schools are contacted and school tours are given to mostly 4th graders at the end of the school year in May.
The building is a monument to the early citizens of Wisconsin who valued education for their children and grandchildren. It is a living tribute that embodies and imparts our value of education. The Garrison School story shares with today's children and adults how and where their grandparents and great grandparents went to school and learned how to read and write.
After an inspection and consultation with Kontext Architects, the recommendation is to stabilize the flooring and foundation as soon as possible. The historic Garrison School is sitting on the ground, on one corner, causing decay of its exterior clapboards and moisture is rotting the existing floor framing system. The Restoration Committee has begun immediate plans for preservation.
The one room school was built before 1850 with parents and early settlers providing the resources for the materials. It was built in the Winnebago District of Columbia County after the U.S. Army Soldiers and families of Fort Winnebago were garrisoned elsewhere. The Fort Winnebago area did not have an official school building as the wives of officers and soldiers taught their own children and they included the children of the Wisconsin Territory. When a Fort Winnebago Officer hired an official teacher for his children, all children in the area were included in the Fort Winnebago classes.
The building has been moved twice. It was built on Fort Winnebago Reserve land and moved in 1878 to the corner of Military Road and Garrison School Road to be more centered in the school district. When it closed in 1960, The Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution agreed to care for the building and one dollar was exchanged in the purchase. It was moved in December 1960 to its current location at Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters Historic Site (FWSQ). Interesting features include it original chalkboard, windows and two entry doors, one for boys and one for girls.
The Wisconsin Daughters have preserved the building as a one room school. It is filled with one room school artifacts: a 37 star United States of America Flag, a teacher's desk, various sizes of student desks, a potbelly stove, a horse's anchor, pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, a Hamilton organ c 1890, oil lanterns, a crock water container, a wooden snow shovel, McGuffey Readers, individual antique student slates and more. The Garrison School is part of the Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters Historic Site and is open to the public from May 15 to October 15. Schools are contacted and school tours are given to mostly 4th graders at the end of the school year in May.
The building is a monument to the early citizens of Wisconsin who valued education for their children and grandchildren. It is a living tribute that embodies and imparts our value of education. The Garrison School story shares with today's children and adults how and where their grandparents and great grandparents went to school and learned how to read and write.
After an inspection and consultation with Kontext Architects, the recommendation is to stabilize the flooring and foundation as soon as possible. The historic Garrison School is sitting on the ground, on one corner, causing decay of its exterior clapboards and moisture is rotting the existing floor framing system. The Restoration Committee has begun immediate plans for preservation.
