Country School House Project

In 2009, the theme of the ND Governor's History Conference was education. As part of that conference, the State Historical Society asked members of the public to help document the country school houses that remain on our landscape. Several individuals sent in information about schools, but one lady, now known in many parts of the state as "The School Lady," has compiled information on over 730 country schools. Kathy Wilner started with one school in particular, the Ingersoll School, and then decided to do some schools around her county. Over time, she partnered with County Historical Societies and won grants to continue documenting schools around the state. Ms. Wilner was awarded the Heritage Profile Honor Award in 2017.

Hard copies of all the information Ms. Wilner compiled are available for viewing at the County Historical Societies, and digital copies are available on this page. In some cases, the names and locations of schools have changed over time, and these records are based on the information available at the time the record was made. The State Historical Society will continue to add records about country schools as it receives them.

Name: ELM GROVE SCHOOL
ID: 32BU00762
County: Bottineau     Township: 160     Range: 077     Section: 15
Geographic Location Key: 016007715BU
Name: STONE CREEK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL
ID: 32BU00763
County: Bottineau     Township: 160     Range: 077     Section: 17
Geographic Location Key: 016007717BU
Name: OAK VALLEY SCHOOL
ID: 32BU00764
County: Bottineau     Township: 162     Range: 076     Section: 25
Geographic Location Key: 016207625BU
Name: LOON LAKE SCHOOL #1
ID: 32BU00765
County: Bottineau     Township: 164     Range: 074     Section: 33
Geographic Location Key: 016407433BU
Name: AMITY SCHOOL #4; BERGMAN SCHOOL
ID: 32BU00766
County: Bottineau     Township: 163     Range: 075     Section: 02
Geographic Location Key: 016307502BU
Name: SCOTIA SPECIAL SCHOOL #22
ID: 32BU00767
County: Bottineau     Township: 164     Range: 079     Section: 33
Geographic Location Key: 016407933BU
Name: DEWEY DISTRICT #16 SCHOOL
ID: 32BU00768
County: Bottineau     Township: 163     Range: 079     Section: 33
Geographic Location Key: 016307933BU
Name: GJELHAUG SCHOOL; LOON LAKE SCHOOL #2
ID: 32BU00773
County: Bottineau     Township: 163     Range: 074     Section: 22
Geographic Location Key: 016307422BU
Name: LOON LAKE #4; OLSON SCHOOL
ID: 32BU00774
County: Bottineau     Township: 163     Range: 074     Section: 11
Geographic Location Key: 016307411BU
Name: HILTON SCHOOL #1
ID: 32BU00775
County: Bottineau     Township: 163     Range: 075     Section: 09
Geographic Location Key: 016307509BU