Emmons School District 33

Established in 1844 as a subscription school, the first Emmons School was located on what is now the southeast corner of Beach Grove Road and Route 59 (once known as Grass Lake Road). Myron Emmons (1805-1893) who had migrated to Antioch two years before from Caughdenoy, New York, settled on a farm of 440 acres. Myron donated a portion of his farm f... or the schoolhouse. Myron resided on his farm until 1868 when he moved into the village of Antioch and went into partnership in a general store with his eldest son, Rockwell Dean. A letter written by Myron in 1878 tells of his trip to California in 1850 and his return with $500 in gold dust. Myron remained in the general store business until he retired in 1887. The first Emmons School was made of lathe and plaster and the oak lumber donated by each family. It measured 16 x 24 feet and was heated by a box stove, which could accommodate logs three feet in length. The desks were boards on the side walls and one end wall of the room and the seats were planks with legs. There was no school tax at the time so each family gave money according to the number of their children that were pupils. The first teacher Mr. Miller, the second, Mr. White and others that followed boarded with the half dozen or so families in the district. The length of the teacher's stay with a family was determined by the number of children that family had enrolled in the school. The teachers were paid twelve dollars a month. It was determined that the Emmons land was too low, so in 1870 land for a new site was purchased from John and Josephine Grimm for twenty dollars. The schoolhouse was moved to the new site directly across the road from where it had been originally built. The schoolhouse door faced west with several windows on the south wall. The Emmons land was returned to the Emmons family. Prior to the turn of the century Emmons was District 7 of the 11 school districts in the Antioch area. Each school had three directors that managed school business. By 1905 the schools in the county were ...Read More