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Show Volume II , Issue I Page 17 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS October 1999 SCHOOLHOUSE cont. from Page 13 miles from the school–a long way for small children to walk in bad weather. Some parents could cooperate with neighbors in getting their children to school while others could not. One outlying district having the most children had, over the years, worked out a system that worked as well as any, but still had many faults. Starting with bad weather, the farmers farthest from school would take all children to and from school for one week for each child they had in school. Some farmers had five or six children going to school at one time and would take five or six weeks and have his hauling done for one year, or he may change with his neighbor and do part of his hauling later. There were always six or more families cooperating, so children rode to school most of the year. The sad part of this system was the lack of a safe way of hauling that many children. There was but one man whose conveyance was safe, and it had many faults. Each man used the best he had which, in most cases, was very poor equipment. The county school board had been under pressure for years to relieve this situation and had done nothing. The snow had gone early the spring of 1920. The children were riding to school in a wagon. The road was rough, and the ground was frozen. They were half way to school. The time was 8:30 in the morning, March 8, 1920. The children were all standing up leaning against the side of the wagon box. Without warning one side of the wagon box broke off, and part of the students on that side fell out in a backward somersault. The wagon was stopped before it ran over anyone. The children jumped up, rubbing their lumps and bruises, some crying, some laughing. One little girl named Mable Jordon never moved. She died instantly with a broken neck. It was a sad day for Eden Town, and there was no school at the schoolhouse. When school started that fall the school board furnished Eden a specialbuilt wagon box. It had a seat along each side with a backrest, and bows over the top like a prairie schooner. It had a double canvas cover of lumber with two sliding windows in front so the driver could handle the horses, or close them to keep out the storm. In back were two narrow doors which opened out and were equipped with rope and pullies so the driver could operate the doors from the driver’s seat in front. At the rear were two steps to get in and out. These came off when the box was put on the sleighs. Four of the farmers who used it most were so well pleased with it, and knowing how hard it was to move, bought a new pair of bob sleighs where it stayed all winter. In the spring it would be changed to a wagon. It is too bad it takes a major accident to bring about a minor change in old customs. In a few years the school board was paying one man to haul the children the full school year. After 1935 a bus was used instead of horses. After the seventh, eight, and ninth grades were taken to Huntsville, it was apparent that the Eden School was doomed to a slow lingering death like the dinosaurs of old or the great mammoths of the ice age who could not adjust to the changing world. For ten long years, through the great depression of the thirties, the school struggled on with six grades and three teachers and an ever-increasing enrollment. Beginning in 1939 some parents, due to their location, found it to their best interest to send their children to Huntsville. They could leave home later in the morning and get home thirty minutes earlier in the evening. The school authorities did not object. They would like to close the Eden school but had encountered stiff resistance from the town. In the early forties one teacher was taken away, leaving six grades with two teachers; and in 1944 the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades were taken to the Valley School, leaving one teacher and the three lower grades. The next year, 1945-46, was the last year school was held in the Eden schoolhouse. No more would the doors open to the ringing of the bell and the laughter of happy voices. The causes that brought about the closing of the Eden school could be classed as both economic and physical. For years the population of Eden had declined, but not as fast as school enrollment. Very few young people stayed in Eden. Most left to seek more gainful employment elsewhere. During the early twenties the introduction of tractors and improved farm machinery made it possible for one man to operate three or four times as much land. So the farms became larger, leaving vacant homes which had once housed large families who had attended school in Eden. In 1935 the Pineview Reservoir was built, taking a portion of the Eden school district. Ten dwellings were involved. Some families moved away. Others moved to higher ground but stayed in Eden. The size of the average family had also decreased considerably in the last generation. It had taken twenty years to close the Eden school. It had been so gradual few people noticed the change. But in two years you could see it was a vacant schoolhouse. The lawn was dead for lack of care, the windows were being knocked out and the fence broken down. It looked like a vacant school in a ghost town. By 1951, the school board decided it should get rid of the building and the lot. Knowing it was poor politics to sell it, even to the highest bidder, it was decided to give it to the town of Eden to do with as they saw fit. Eden first tried to sell the school and lot, but made such a failure of their first attempt and made so many people angry at them, they decided to give the building to a salvage contractor to tear down and move. If certain people had owned this property it could have become a public nuisance and brought shame to the people who loved it so dearly. In years past the ward or town maintained a playground and baseball diamond directly across the street from the schoolhouse. Baseball in Eden, like in all country towns, had become a thing of the past. So the ballpark and playground had been plowed up and farmed, leaving no place to play. After the salvage company finished its work in the early fifties, it was decided to make a park and playground out of the school lot. There remained a lot of work to be done before grass could be planted. All the cement work had to be removed with dynamite and buried deep enough to plough over. It was a job that could be put off, and it was put off for about ten years. In the early sixties the park project was revived. The Bishopric and young people, boys and girls, deserve the credit for transforming an eyesore in the center of town into a place of beauty and pleasure. I did the powder work for them, and as the last blast went off, I thought to myself, “That is the end of Eden’s school of 1910.” And as I rolled a large piece of cement into a hole deep enough so it would never interfere in ploughing, I said to myself, “How just and how fitting it is that the remains of this once noble building can lay forever buried beneath the playground of happy children.” Note: This article was taken from the book, “History of the Eden Ward Ogden Stake Utah 1877 - 1977” researched and compiled by Melba and Ren Colvin, formerly of Eden. Recipe of the Month Chicken Broccoli Chowder 3 cans (14 ½ oz.) condensed chicken broth 3 cups of water ½ teas. salt ½ teas. thyme 1/8 teas. pepper 4 medium potatoes cubed 1 bunch of fresh broccoli diced ½ cup sliced mushrooms 2/3 cup flour 3 cups half & half 3 cups cubed, cooked chicken In large saucepan, combine broth, water, salt, thyme and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Add broccoli. Simmer about 10 minutes. Blend flour and 1 cup of the half & half until smooth. Slowly add to soup, stirring constantly. Add remaining half & half, chicken, and mushrooms. Heat thoroughly and serve. Little Dreamer Performing Arts Education A special program for preschool age children “Prepare for kindergarten in a fun & creative way!” • CREATIVE ART PROJECTS • COLORS & SHAPES • MUSIC EDUCATION • DANCE EDUCATION • NUMBERS & COUNTING • RECOGNIZING LETTERS • WRITING NUMBERS & LETTERS • POEMS & FINGER PLAYS • RIGHT FROM LEFT • SHOW ‘N TELL • MINI CONCERTS • MINI FIELD TRIPS Bridget Kilgrow 4904 E. 2775 N. EDEN, UTAH (801) 745-1764 OGDEN VALLEY REAL ESTATE SPECIALISTS PLEASE CALL FOR A NO OBLIGATION MARKET ANALYSIS ON YOUR HOME 745-4663 Dick Dixon Branch Broker 745-3119 DICK OR KEN Ken Turner Realtor 745-4222 We Make It Happen! WARDLEY IS #1 IN UTAH! WE SELL A HOME EVERY 11 MINUTES! MORE THAN OUR NEXT TWO COMPETITORS COMBINED! 30 OFFICES AND 1600 SALES EXECUTIVES TO SATISFY ALL OF YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS! EDEN OFFICE 745-4663 2595 NORTH HIGHWAY 162, EDEN UT |