Nuggets From Helena: The history of Unionville School

This article originally appeared in the Helena Independent Record on November 27, 2022."The sounds of school children laughing, shouting and chattering echoed through Unionville for nearly a century. The little schoolhouse at Unionville has served both students and the modest mountain community at least since 1872. According to longtime resident and local oral historian Mark Sherman, the schoolhouse was originally J.C. (“Pony”) Ricker’s I.X.L. Mine office. Mr. Sherman said the building was moved a little over a mile to Unionville from the I.X.L. Mill site near the town of Park City. A 1912 photo from the Montana Historical Society (MTHS) archives shows Mark, about 8 years old, standing in front of the school with his teacher and his all-female classmates. In 1964, Mark wrote a beautifully descriptive article of Unionville and the surrounding country for the town’s 100th anniversary. Clearly his schoolhouse writing lessons were well learned. The largest single source collection of Unionville photos in the MTHS archive are photos taken by Mr. Sherman and his family.The schoolhouse sits on land that once belonged to the National Mining and Exploration Corporation. This company was owned in part by the illustrious Roosevelt family of New York, including Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, Sr. In that era and for a few more years the town was actually called Roosevelt in honor of these early investors in the important Whitlach mines. In 1867, the superintendent of the company, Professor Hodge, was indicted for the murder of Mr. Moore, a woodcutter. He was found not guilty but was warned by the Roosevelts that the vigilance committee was not persuaded by the trial and had decided to correct the perceived injustice. The story goes that Hodge left quietly that night to preserve his life.The new company superintendent, S. J. Jones, and his wife arrived from the east and took up residence in Unionville. Locals promptly attached to him the sobriquet “Sound Judgement Jones.” Jones’ wife was a pious woman and perhaps that accounts for S.J.’s decision to make available a place of worship for all denominations in Unionville; this may have been the I.X.L Mine office that was moved from Park City. The structure was used for church purposes on Sundays and housed the community school for free on weekdays. It is possible that S. J. was responsible for bringing the original structure to Unionville.

The earliest newspaper mention of the Unionville school was as a polling place for a Republican primary in 1872. On June 17, 1875, an announcement was published that after a long school term, the children were out for the summer break. The community had raised $450 by subscription to run the school that year and there were still a few hundred dollars on account in preparation for the following winter’s reopening.

In 1893, Miss Louise Shapley substituted for the school’s teacher Miss Turnley while she traveled to Chicago to see the World’s Columbian Exposition. Imagine the stories she would have shared with her students upon her return. Miss Turnley was obviously an energetic and forward-thinking young educator. Six years later she was elected Lewis and Clark County school superintendent.

In 1935, Unionville experienced something of a revival after the devastating Helena earthquakes and its school reopened. Around this time, a small vestibule with a bell perched on an open platform was added. Maybe the little log cabins took the shakes a bit better than the brick houses in town. Some folks had kept family cabins as summer retreats which were now pressed into service as full-time residences after the quakes.

Another burst of activity in the post-World War II years brought new young families to town. At one point in the 1940s the school-age census reached 50 students. The little schoolhouse must have been a tight squeeze with so many students.

At some point, the school district added land to the school grounds and made plans to build a new school. The new school didn’t materialize, and the original school was upgraded by volunteers in 1949. A more generous vestibule was also added that year and a large multi-unit, industrial steel framed window was installed in the east wall. This unusual feature creates a lovely light filled space uncommon in one-room schoolhouses. The school finally closed after the 1954 school year.

The sweet little building still stands in the center of town on a prominent rise above the Unionville Road. After a spell as a red schoolhouse with white trim, its historic white paint and green trim color scheme were restored along with a neat new roof. This project was the result of much hard work from 2013 through 2015 by local and greater Helena area volunteers and a $5,000 Montana History Foundation grant for materials.

Through its years as a school and even after it closed, the Unionville School has always been a center of social life for this small town. People cast their ballots during elections here as late as 1990. A work party for the school’s care finished with a picnic dinner served at Wendel Lake (now Cox Lake). Dances, Christmas pageants, Easter egg rolls, 4H meetings, and much more took place at the schoolhouse. Since the most recent repairs, the historic school has hosted community picnics, a historic art exposition, and a number of wonderful community concerts.

Recently, local residents have become aware that the school has structural issues that must be addressed so it can stand for years to come. In the process of investigating its condition, folks have realized that the current building is the result of generations adding to and patching up a very old and modest structure. This is borne out by multiple articles about work parties and local discussions of the school’s condition over many decades. We are hoping that another gathering of volunteers will be able to extend its life some decades longer. Contributions to the school’s repair fund can be mailed to the Lewis and Clark Co. Heritage Tourism Council, 301 N. Park Ave., Helena, MT 59623 (make check payable to Lewis and Clark Co. and write “Unionville School” in the memo line). If you attended the Unionville School and would like to share a memory or photographs, call the HTC at (406) 447-8357."