Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HUMKE SCHOOL
HUMKE SCHOOL. The vintage one-room rural school was formerly located in Centralia, Iowa. Land on which the school was built had been donated by Christopher Higley who had married a Humke. The school one-room school was built by local farmer, Charles Ferdinand Humke in 1883. Students began their education in the building from the age of five until they graduated at the end of eighth grade. The teacher at the school generally boarded with the Humkes as was the practice in the early days. If women married, they had to resign their teaching assignment. (1)
Between the fall of 1884 when the school bell first rang until the final class in 1966, the school was operated by thirty-one teachers. In its earliest days, the school lacked plumbing, electricity, telephone service and central heating. Candles were used for light. Students used an outhouse as a toilet. A potbellied stove was kept lit by the teacher as part of his or her duties. (2)
Vacant in Center Township west of the city since SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION in 1960, the school was given to the DUBUQUE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY on April 5, 1968 in a letter from the DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT. In moving the 10-ton building on June 22, 1969, four feet of roof was removed to avoid an additional cost of $1,000 to lift utility wires out of the movers' path. The building, followed by members of the Humke family, was brought to the grounds of the HAM HOUSE. (3)
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Source:
1. Jerde, Lyn, "Visiting the Old School," Telegraph Herald, June 24, 1996, p. 2
2. "175 Years" Vol. II Telegraph Herald, p. 94
3. Ibid.
