Time Machine: Stony Point School

References to a Stony Point schoolhouse stretch back to 1871 in The Gazette's archives, when 'Prof. Kephart,” a Republican candidate for senator, addressed Clinton Township residents there in October.

It is also mentioned as the site for political gatherings in 1872 and 1873. And in 1877, the Stony Point schoolhouse directors issued a bill for $5 to the Linn County Board of Supervisors for use of the building for the November election. They were paid $3.

When classes weren't in session in the one-story, frame building - northwest of Cedar Rapids near Covington - it also served as a church, a Sunday school and a place for community celebrations.

An Old Fashioned Country Fair, held in August 1918, was typical of the gatherings. The two-evening event featured the Clinton Township band, orators, singers and an 'exhibition knitting drill by women of the neighborhood.”

The school stood on a corner of the Frank and Ida Davis farm, where their son, C. Russell Davis, began working in 1919, driving a team of horses and a wagon full of milk bottled at the farm. (He turns up later in the school's history.)

On Jan. 4, 1944, the school was severely damaged when a fire started in the basement, probably at 6:20 p.m., which is when an electric clock in the school stopped. Though volunteer firemen saved the building, teacher Mabel Gordon's classes had to be suspended until repairs could be made.

remote teaching

The Stony Point school was the first rural school in Linn County to teach a student remotely.

In 1953, the Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. strung a half-mile of telephone wire to connect fifth-grader Johnny Mrstik with the school's four other fifth-graders. Johnny had atrophic arthritis and couldn't walk. The 'teach-a-phone” transmitted sound from the classroom to Johnny. When he pressed a button on a speaker on his desk, he could take part in class discussion.

The one-room school had 26 students that year, taught by Mary Cheadle. The school board paid the cost of the telephone service for Johnny and was later reimbursed by state special education funds.

School consolidation led to the closure of the Stony Point school in the spring of 1959. It was the last country school in Linn County when it closed, with 35 students spanning eight grades. The students began attending Cedar Rapids schools.

building sold

The school and its contents were sold at public auction Dec. 7, 1959. C. Russell Davis bought the building for $1,500, and the land automatically reverted to Davis as its original owner. (In the days of one-room country schools, farmers often allowed schools to be built on their land, with the understanding the land would revert to them when the school was no longer in use.)

Davis had expanded his family's holdings, naming the operation Rockwood Farm, and had parlayed his milk route into four Dairy Maid stores in Cedar Rapids. He also was well-known for breeding and raising American Saddlebred horses.

The Davis family kept the school and grounds in good condition, letting church and civic groups use the property for meetings and social events.

vandals, tornado, fire, disrepair

In the 1970s, the building had sat unused for several years and fell victim to vandals. It caught fire again on a cold January night in 1976, the day it was scheduled to be auctioned.

In June 1978, about 40 fourth-graders from Cedar Rapids Fillmore Elementary chose to have a class picnic at the former school. They listened to former students talk about the school, took turns ringing the school bell and read from old readers still in the classroom. An old-fashioned spelling bee and a schoolyard merry-go-round provided entertainment.

Soon after that, the school was renovated and used as the campaign headquarters for Richard Rawson's 1978 run for the Iowa House of Representatives from District 27.

In 2003, former students and neighbors of the old school were invited to a meeting at Covington Church on July 30 to talk about restoring the building, which had been damaged by an F2 tornado on July 20. The tornado also caused major damage in nearby Covington.

Some work was done to improve the property, including painting and adding signage.

adding an ‘e'

Somewhere along the way, the neighborhood that grew up around the school added an 'e” to the Stony name. Everything - from a YMCA to the road on which the school sits - is now identified as 'Stoney Point.”

Whether there was a lack of interest or of funding, nothing more was done to restore the old school.

It sits boarded up and derelict on its corner at Stoney Point Road and Highway 94, its sign firmly stating 'Stony Point School.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8338; diane.langton@thegazette.com