Rosendale School District 50

With school in full swing, it’s the perfect time to take a look back at some school history and the era of one-room schoolhouses.

If you were to look at a map of Danielson Township, you would find the sole community of Rosendale. Like many similar communities, only a few buildings remain today, but it was once home to a creamery (the second built in the state), store, blacksmith shop, garage, mill, and the Danish Brotherhood Hall. About a mile and a half west of Rosendale was School District # 50, often called the Rosendale School.

Rosendale School, c 1930

One of the things sometimes overlooked in local history is the vast number of schools that once dotted the countryside. In fact, over the years there were nearly one hundred rural schools in Meeker County! In the days before cars and school buses, most children walked to school. “Two miles in the snow, uphill both ways” wasn’t an exaggeration for many children. To keep the distances manageable for the students, schools were added across the countryside as the population demanded.

The Rosendale School was first organized in 1871. In 1909, it was decided that a new school was needed. J.W. Dudley of Atwater was paid $10 to move the old building so new construction could begin. The original school was purchased by the Danielson Creamery Co. for $50 and moved into Rosendale. It would later become the Danielson Township Hall. This building still stands and is currently home to the 530 Farm Girls occasional sales.

The new school cost over $3,100 to build. A loan from recently widowed Margrethe Mortenson paid for half of the new structure. The rest of the funds came from bonds, taxes, and state aid. The museum’s archives have one of the school’s record books that lists many of the expenses and people involved in building the school. More than two dozen local men hauled over sixty loads of lumber, stone, and cement for the construction. The cement walls were poured and marked to look like bricks.

The building was outfitted with maps, textbooks, library books, and a furnace, along with new desks that were ordered from Sears and Roebuck. When complete, the school was considered one of the “finest and best equipped schools of any rural district.”

Rural schools only offered education up through eighth grade. To honor the graduates, the rural schools would hold a joint commencement. Held at the Litchfield Opera House, the ceremonies included music and a special speaker. One year, the Governor of Minnesota was even in attendance to hand out the diplomas. Most graduate classes from any given school ranged from zero to around six students each year. District 50 was no exception.

Over the years, student enrollment at the Rosedale school decreased, as did many of the rural schools, due in part to the increase in available school bus transportation. District 50 closed in 1965. The building was used as a private home for a time but burned down in 1980. The end of an era.

Note: In a fun coincidence, within a couple hours of completing this article, a gentleman visited the Museum who attended Rosendale School. He came to donate some books used at the school!