Old one-room rural school burns

A shift in the wind Saturday afternoon apparently sent embers from a nearby fire into an old one-room schoolhouse in New Liberty, destroying the structure.

No one was hurt in the midday fire, but the loss of the stone building surely will be noticed by people who live in the area and often used it as a local landmark.

New Liberty firefighters said a member of the family that owns the building was burning debris in a nearby ditch when the wind evidently shifted and ignited the building.

By the time firefighters arrived, the roof had collapsed, and because the building was not insured, they allowed it to burn rather than risk injury trying to fight it. A large part of one of the walls had already collapsed long before the fire even started, they said.

A handful of rural Scott County fire departments responded to the blaze.

As firefighters kept watch over the building to make sure the fire didn't spread, people watched from across New Liberty Road, some of them taking photos.

Among those gathered was Beverly Meyer. She was in the last eighth-grade class to attend school in the building during 1952. She lived just across the road, Meyer recalled, so it was easy to get to school in the morning and go home for lunch.

Meyer also recalled that the school housed kids from kindergarten through eighth grade, all in one room. She said that while one class was taking instruction, the rest would move to the back of the room and quietly do their studying.

Like a lot of old schoolhouses, this one had been used as a barn.

Lynn Sievers, the owner, who lives across the road, said she had chickens in it. But because of its condition, she had been thinking of tearing it down.

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Old one-room rural school burns