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| Oregon Flat School documented |
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 Question: My great-grandmother attended one session of school in 1901 or 1902 at Oregon Flat. Are records from that school available at the museum?
Answer: A few records of Oregon Flat School District No. 70 for the early 1900s are on file at the Heritage Museum. Oregon Flat School District was one of the 99 school districts that existed in Boone County at one time. Even the smallest community had a school, and most children lived within walking distance, although the walk could sometimes be long.
One room schoolhouses dotted Boone County, with most rural schools having only three month terms. The 1900 term at Oregon Flat began in September and ended at the last of December. In 1901, the school term began September 19 and ended February 29, 1902, so that term was just a little longer than the previous year.
C. W. Pierce taught the three-month session at the Flat in 1900. In 1901, Rosetta Markley is listed as the teacher with a second grade certificate. Most teachers were paid by "subscription." Many times this meant the teacher would visit parents and sign up their future scholars, usually at the rate of a dollar a month per student. Some teachers boarded at homes within the community near the school, much to the delight of the children who lived in the home.
The 1900 session of Oregon Flat School shows an enrollment of 62 students. They ranged in age from six to 20 years old. Ester Langford was the youngest and Luther Price the oldest student. The 1901 session enrolled 47 students with Carrie Clarkston, Nora Jackson and Clara Whitesides as 6-year-olds, and other students ranging in age from seven to 20 years.
The 1900-1904 records of pupils attending Oregon Flat School are on file, and anyone interested is welcome to look them over. Perhaps you have an ancestor who attended this school since children from the surrounding area, including Bergman and Cheatham, are listed as students. |
| C. W. Pierce, Rosetta Markley and Almeda Markley kept immaculate records, showing the number of days each student attended classes. When consolidation of small rural schools began, this changed the Oregon Flat area, but pride in their community is very evident in notes kept by the Home Demonstration Club members from the Flat. Beginning in 1931, one can easily see the pride the group of women had in their area. Their 1942 data included the following: |
| Number of homes: about 40 |
| Owned farms: 95 percent |
| Tenants: 5 percent |
| Types of farming: dairy, beef cattle, hogs, tomato growing for cannery, apple orchards, grapes and poultry |
| Consolidated School: (with members helping serve hot lunches at the school) best singing school in the county |
| Oregon Flat now boasts some fine farms, lovely homes and the Oregon Flat Baptist Church. Take a drive out that way and enjoy the sites of rural living at its best. |
| Records of several communities and schools are on file at the Heritage Museum, and you are invited to add your information to these files, should you have stories and pictures available. Preserving the history of Boone County and its people is important to all of us. Please join our effort and support the Boone County Heritage Museum by becoming a member of the Historical Society. |
| On December 1, the museum will begin its winter hours, opening only on Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. These hours continue during December, January and February. Come spend a Thursday at the museum. |
| This column appears Fridays in the Harrison Daily Times. Mail questions to Boone County Heritage Museum, P. O. Box 1094, Harrison, AR 72601. Marilyn Smith can be contacted at bchm@windstream.net |
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