One Room Schools
Education has been important to the people living in the Ozarks since they first came. Because of the remote areas and ‘beginning’ transportation systems, early schools in the Missouri Ozarks were established in neighborhoods, were often one small building and served a small number of children across a wider range of age and learning. In about 1954, consolidation programs brought education to larger centers and the small schools were closed. Some became homes, churches, barns, storage and some were preserved as memory centers.
In 2011, Top of the Ozarks R.C.& D conducted a survey of the schools that are still in existence in Douglas, Ozark, Texas and Wright Counties. Where the schools could be accessed, the team took photos and accumulated some basic information as well as the location. These slide programs were prepared for presentations to various historical and cultural groups in the communities.
