School Name: Walnut Grove School School District Number: #44
Location:
Township: Twn40N Range: Rng15W Section: Sec05
Latitude: 38.251400 °N Longitude: -92.604100 °W
School Photos:
Walnut Grove School - Circa 1929
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Walnut Grove School - 1930
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Walnut Grove - T. E. Vaughn, Teacher - 1898
Walnut Grove - Oliver Brockman, Teacher - Early 1900's
Walnut Grove - Ruth McCommons Barron, Teacher
Walnut Grove School - 2017
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School Information:
Date Started: Date Closed:
School Registers:
Teachers: Judge Jenkins lists the following teachers for the early years of the school:
| 1874-75 | Andrew Bear | 1890-91 | B. F. Bowlin | |
| 1875-76 | David McComb | 1891-93 | J. H. Butner | |
| 1876-77 | J. C. Glover | 1893-94 | Viola Cotton | |
| 1877-78 | J. L. Roark | 1894-95 | Janie Vaughn | |
| 1878-79 | William M. Harrison | 1895-96 | Retta Elliott | |
| 1879-80 | Mary E. Holloway | 1896-97 | C. B. Wright | |
| 1880-83 | Wm. M. Harrison | 1897-98 | E. F. Brown | |
| 1883-84 | Nannie Anthony | 1898-99 | T. E. Vaughn | |
| 1884-85 | Fred Etter | 1899-00 | Claudia Roark | |
| 1885-86 | A. H. Jones | 1900-01 | Otis Wright | |
| 1886-88 | Florence Cotton | |||
| 1888-89 | Fred Etter | |||
| 1889-90 | Sadie Vann |
This school district relinquished its territory south of the river in 1879. Due to the meandering of the Osage River and with the influx of inhabitants combined with the coming of the railroad, the school districts in Congressional Township 40, Range 15, originally Miller County School District No. 10, suffered many boundary changes Bagnell would break away from this District on June 27, 1898, becoming a Village School District.
Resident Taxpayers in 1871:
Resident Taxpayers in 1871: Delany Bowlin, Amos Brown, Jeckoliah Brown, Jacob Cotton, Nancy Cotton, Thomas Cotton, William McComb, Polly Vann, S. G. Vaughan, and John Vann.
By Kathy Pierson and Angie Needham
Walnut Grove School was built in the early 1920's. The first teacher for the school was Berlie Harvey.
The regular school day began at 9 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. Students had approximately 20 minutes for each class, 10 minutes for recess, and one hour for lunch. The school year started around Aug 29 and ended around April 14. The library consisted of 125 volumes valued at approximately 50 cents a book.
As other schools in this area, it closed down after the construction of Bagnell Dam.
Per Joe Pryor Archives - 2011:
Debbie Simmons sent Joe Pryor some photos she took the week that our fall scenery was displaying its most color. Debbie had driven around the area to select a few places where the autumn scenery was most vivid. Debbie went over to an area north of Bagnell where the old Walnut Grove school is located and took some pictures of the school located a short distance north of Highway 54 in the Meads Flat area.
Walnut Grove was one of the many one room schools the county had years ago which at one time numbered up to about 100 schools.
The name of the school relates to the fact that it is surrounded by a grove of walnut trees according to James R. Pruitt.
Photos from Debbie:
Walnut Grove School - 2011
Walnut Grove School - 2011
Walnut Grove School - 2011
Walnut Grove School - 2011
Walnut Grove School - 2011
School Resources
