In Memory of A School

In the past two years I've been the administrator for the Barnsdall History page on Facebook I've found that Barnsdall has had little change but in the same light more than a person might realize. Looking over photos from the past, of people and places that are gone, the images and memories are still there. The image of the old three story stone school house at the end of Main and Fourth St. comes to mind. This was an image that came to me one day as I walked out of the bank, located just northwest of where the stone school was. As I was about to get in my vehicle, I took a look over at the empty lot which at one time had two different school buildings on it. It was only a split second but the image seem to last longer. In that quick gaze I could see the children running and playing in front of the school, trees slowly moving as the breeze would gently move the branches, and the glow of the stones of the school as the sun would shine brightly on it's outer walls. What a place to behold. Only through photos and memories from those that attended the school can we even get a glimpse of what the place was like. I can imagine the wood floors creaking as the students would walk to class, the heavy doors that would close with a loud thud or the faint breeze that would flow through the windows on a warm day. There are many stories the building could talk about in it's short 39 year history such as when it was being built during the later part of 1910 into the spring of 1911 and just days after it was inspected by county officials, the third floor was destroyed by a tornado. It was also during this time that around 100 people took shelter in the school as the storm passed. Even though the small school had no high school accreditation from the state, it still managed to teach those that came through the doors.

Barnsdall Elementary, 1940's

Even as the school had three floors, only two of them were used. The third floor had been condemned after it was rebuilt from the tornado damage. But it never stopped the curious to creep up the steps and take a look at it as I've been told. In it's early days there was a basketball court set up on it's south lawn. A photo of it from 1914 shows the goals raised into the air and so far apart from one another. Most likely the first organized sport for the school.

The basketball court can be seen in the upper right of the photo.

It's hard to say how many students, teachers and parents walked through those double doors at the front of the school, the generations of families that seen one another grow up learning from those that would take on a small school agenda. As the school was raised in 1949, a new school was built on the same location. I attended that school in the late 60's and early 70's. On more than one occasion during basketball practices in the grade school gymnasium, I would go into the hall to get a drink of water and hear the faint sounds of children as if they were passing through the halls and interesting noises from classrooms. At the time, I didn't know that there was a school that sat on the property before the new school was built. But these days, looking back through time , I can understand the quiet voices and noises coming from the rooms. Maybe it was the innocence of being young and not having to worry about anything that had the school filled with the joy of being young and energetic.  I'm not saying the school built in 1949 was haunted, I'm just saying there was a ambiance of youth that permeated the building that I'm certain originated in the old stone school  which by some factor attributed to the aura of the building. The days of children in the halls and the voices of those filled with joy are gone from the site now. The school built in 1949, was condemned and razed in 2004. Do the voices of those that attended this school still be heard? I guess they could, but only in the memory of those that walked the halls and played on the playground for nearly 50 years.

Barnsdall Elementary built in 1949