Poe No. 1

In the early days of Lesanville, school was held in a log cabin. A few short terms later the classes moved to Mr. David Lesan's home, but the need for a proper schoolhouse was becoming obvious. In 1861, the new building – the Lesanville School (Poe No. 1) was built and a local, Mr. Randles, served as its first teacher. By the 1880s a newer building had replaced the original. This schoolhouse would remain open until 1958. Like many schoolhouses in this era, the recently closed building was moved into Mount Ayr to be used as a home.

Records show the original 1880s school was later moved back to the Lesanville property, but the school preserved on the land as a museum appears to be the Liberty No. 7 (Mount Hill School) building that had also been moved onto the same property between 1990 and 2002.

Photo credit: Originally uploaded to IAGenWeb by Sharon R. Becker.