People have been promoting education in Marshall County almost as long as the county has existed, going from just a few students in isolated one-room schoolhouses, to our current large, modern buildings. The path has not always been smooth. In addition to the varying attitudes and opinions of the taxpayers over the years, accidents and natural disasters have had their impact as well. Following are a few examples. Excerpts have been lightly edited.

The Town of Inwood’s school building apparently needed a new roof before the start of the 1911 school year, but the effort ended tragically. The August 31 edition of The Weekly Republican newspaper covered the accident.

“Hueston C. Kramer, the Plymouth tinner, was perhaps fatally injured at about 1:45 Monday by falling from the roof of the public schoolhouse at Inwood. Mr. Kramer was at work putting a tin roof on the building when in some way he fell to the ground, a distance of two full stories, landing on his head on the cement sidewalk below. He sustained a broken shoulder blade and severe injuries about the face and head. It is thought that he can live but a short time at the best.

No one witnessed the accident, but Doctors Kaszer and Loring were immediately summoned. The injured man was carried into the basement of the building and everything possible was done for him. He has remained in an unconscious condition since the time of the accident.”

The 28-year-old Kramer died three hours later.

In 1928 the Bourbon Township Consolidated School Corporation built a new addition to their existing building. The work started in October and was slated to be completed by spring of 1929. Students were dismissed for Christmas break on December 21, and seven days later the building, including the new addition, went up in flames. In the process, the school learned a very expensive lesson. According to the Bourbon High School Chronicle 1884 – 1963,

“The building was a total loss of $125,000, with only $50,000 in insurance. The fire was discovered about 1:15 a.m. by Ernest Hurford. He hurried back to town and turned in the alarm to the Bourbon Fire Company. Help was immediately called from Plymouth and Warsaw.

“The blaze started on the upper floor in the room of the Latin teacher. It was thought it might have started with the electric wiring. The flames spread rapidly through the center of the building and to the south end…. At 4:00 a.m. the water supply failed. The town pumps filling the standpipe could not supply water at the same rate as it was being used on the fire and the firemen had to wait until it was replenished. By dawn the fire had gutted the building.”

The wave of school consolidations in the 1950s led to the need for a new school building in the town of Argos. Incoming students from Green and Walnut townships quickly rendered the Argos K-12 building too small, so in 1957 construction began on a new school. As work was progressing on the gymnasium, 23 steel support trusses suddenly collapsed, injuring three workmen.

The Culver Citizen of June 12, 1957, described the event. “The heavy girders collapsed in chain reaction fashion at the site of the construction of a $1,000,000 school and gymnasium of the recently organized Argos Community School.

“One of the injured workmen, Robert Treber, 31 years old, Argos, is in fair condition…. He suffered several fractured ribs and facial and arm cuts. The others injured, Antal Marton, 35, Culver, and John Brewer, 31, Argos, were treated for minor injuries and released.”

An investigator sent in to determine the cause of the collapse concluded that one of the girders had been dropped and sustained some damage, but was installed anyway, and an attempt to straighten it in place had been made. It was also noted that the joists were curving away from the starting end, some bracing clips were broken at the welds and one of the wires connecting the first joist to the end of the column failed. It could have been much worse than it was.

And sometimes no amount of human intervention can stop a disaster. The new Laville Junior-Senior High School was still under construction in April 1965 when the Palm Sunday tornados struck Marshall and St. Joseph counties. The April 12 South Bend Tribune reported, “…the north wall of the gymnasium was badly damaged, and some damage was also done to an east wall. Building material was scattered throughout the area.” Regardless of the setback, the new consolidated school opened on time.

The MCHS staff is hard at work on an upcoming exhibit highlighting the public high school buildings of Marshall County. Details will be coming soon. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at 123 N. Michigan St. Call us at 574-936-2306 for more information.