School in 1880 Town

Most towns of any size would have a schoolhouse in 1880. Many began as one-room schools with all the grades in the same building, taught by a single teacher. You can imagine how challenging that would be. As the student population grew, the grades might be divided and two teachers hired. Eventually, some schools would expand to include a teacher at almost every grade level.

Rules for teachers were often strict. Women teachers couldn't teach after they married. They were given guidelines about how they dressed, where they could go, and who they could see. Pay was very low, and housing varied. Some towns offered teacherages, but others housed teachers in parents' homes, a situation that could be good or bad. 

The wooden and iron student desks were arranged in neat rows facing a chalkboard with the teacher's desk at the front. Somewhere in the room would be a stove for heat in the winter. Out back would be one or two outhouses. The teacher and students brought their own lunches.

The situation was rarely ideal, but students still learned. As a former teacher, I don't think I'd want to teach in the 1880s, but I admire those who did. It was one of the few jobs opened to single women in the 1800s. To read one of my novels that deals with the education system in the 1880s, check out Simon's Shame.

*1880 Town is a reconstructed Western town in Midland, South Dakota.

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