Blog

Come back to this space often to see weekly highlights, exhibits, presentations, and more!

 

 This week we are Highlighting the Little Red Schoolhouse located in Gillette Park.  The first private tour was conducted by our volunteer Retired teacher Larry Scheckel.

                                          

Tomah’s Miller Elementary School Fourth Grade Class visited the Little Red Schoolhouse in Gillette Park on Friday, May 26. The students and teachers, Tracy Ledvina and Kimberly Olson, were greeted by volunteer docent Larry Scheckel.

 

Local history is taught in fourth grade. Scheckel took students through a typical day in the one-room country school, including the Pledge of Allegiance, flying the flag, recitation by grade, emphasis on the 3 R’s of learning, the wood burning stove, interior lighting before electricity,  school supplies, drinking water, the outhouses, playground games, the lunch box, typical books and lessons, report cards, school discipline, the Dick and Jane series, the Christmas program, and “what the teachers were like.”

 

Built in 1864, the Little Red Schoolhouse, known as the Watermill School, was located on County Road G, five miles northeast of Tomah, Wisconsin. Watermill School educated rural youngsters for 100 years, closed in 1965, purchased by the City of Tomah, and moved to its present location at Gillette Park at 1318 Superior Avenue, where it was set aside as a museum. It became open to visitors in 1967. The Little Red Schoolhouse is operated by the Tomah Area Historical Society, whose Executive Director is Jim Weinzatl. 

 

The Little Red Schoolhouse is open from Memorial Day thru Labor Day and welcomes visitors on Wednesdays: 1 pm - 4 pm and Saturdays: 9 am - 12 pm, with free Admission.

 

Private tours can be arranged by calling the Tomah Area History Museum at 608-372-1880 or email: tomahmuseum@charter.net.