Historic Big Bend Rural School, Steelville, Missouri.Photo byStephenjayson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Big Bend Rural School is a one-room historic schoolhouse on Missouri Highway 19 in Steelville, Missouri. On November 3, 1999, it was relocated to Hoppe Spring Park not far from its original location (pictured below).

This schoolhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1978. At that time, it was owned by the Crawford County Historical Society.

The Big Bend Rural School was built on a foundation of native sandstone. Pine clapboards painted white made its exterior. It had a tin roof. Originally, the school had three windows on the east and west sides of the building. The school had no basement or attic.

The Big Bend Rural School was relocated not far from its original location, to the left of this spring.Photo byStephenjayson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Big Bend Rural School is important because it reminds us how simple rural life used to be and how it has almost disappeared from our landscape. This school was part of Missouri's education history. We must remember these one-room schoolhouses.

Early Missouri education

In 1825, Missouri started moving toward a statewide education system. State legislature deemed it mandatory for congressional townships to establish more school districts. In 1839, the Geyer Act made it possible to raise funds for that purpose.

The Geyer Act, influenced by and named after Henry S. Geyer (1780-1859), also designated each congressional township as an individual school district. In 1853, the Kelly Act did away with that and instead established smaller districts.

'An Act to provide for the organization, support and government of common schools, in the State of Missouri, also known as the Kelly Act of 1853, passed on February 24, 1853, made the State Superintendent of Schools an elected position, created a county commissioner of common schools to supervise their region, and designated each congressional township a school district (which could be subdivided into four smaller districts). (Source.)

In 1866, another law was passed bringing back to each township the duties of educational supervision. The law was revised again in 1874 bringing back the autonomous district, meaning they could make independent decisions on how to structure and operate public schools.

By the 1850s and 1860s, there was a growing concern about the quality of education in rural schools and the conditions in one-room schools. With new laws, more funds for public schools became available. This brought more qualified teachers.

In Crawford County, there were low enrollments and poor attendance. In the early 1870s, one-third of the county's children were enrolled and not all who were enrolled regularly attended.

By the late 1880s, state funds for education increased due to higher taxes and the selling of cleared swampland. By this time, more children were attending school.

The Big Bend Rural School

This school was associated with more interest and availability of rural Missouri education toward the late 1800s. The school was on one acre of an 80-acre tract. On September 2, 1882, that tract was granted by the U.S. Government to Mrs. Levisa Wood.

On August 3, 1893, the land was sold to Crawford County's School District #6. The school building was built by John Salzer. By September 1893, school started covering the 8th grade level. When school began, it ran from four to five months because the children's time was also needed for family farming work.

Initially, communities in the area of Big Bend prioritized farming above education which is why children were often absent. As such, they were in a grade level until they passed the work and were able to advance to the next grade. It's no surprise why some students ranged in age from five to 30.

In the early years of the school and into the 1900s, the Big Bend teachers were paid $25 per month. In the early days, there also wasn't a requirement of teachers to be certified.

In 1913, the Crossley Teacher Training Law required teachers to have high school training and certification in the state.

In 1949, Big Bend School closed because of the school system being reorganized in the state. The students then joined the consolidated R-3 District in Steelville. On February 27, 1950, the school and its land were sold at auction to Elmer Clinton and his wife. The Clintons then sold it in 1973 to the Crawford County Historical Society.

With the decline of rural population, it became more challenging to maintain schools, especially with fewer students. Transportation was a factor going into the 1900s. It used to be that students walked to school.

Roads, automobiles, and mass transit were major factors in how attendance to schools had evolved. There wasn't the need for more schools to be so close to each other for those who had to walk. Those closely spaced schools also cost the state more money.

Also, by the late 1940s, buses transporting students to larger schools cost school districts less. Another reason why parents became more concerned about the smaller schools was linked to their concern for their children's health and safety. Parents also became more concerned about the quality of education.

The standards in teaching requirements at rural schools were lower because those schools couldn't provide the same type of salaries as urban schools. As such, the urban schools attracted more educated teachers. Also, since rural schools weren't operating as many months during the year, the students weren't receiving the same amount of education as urban students.

While rural one-room schoolhouses are a part of America's past, some of these historic buildings still stand and the Big Bend Rural School is one of them due to preservation of education history in Missouri.

After Big Bend School was relocated to Steelville at Hoppe Spring Park on November 3, 1999, those interested along with Aim High Extension Club, Masonic Lodge, Steelville Telephone, and the City of Steelville, the historic school was restored and converted to a museum.

Visit here to read more about the school, see the names of teachers and students, and learn about its timeline.

Thanks for reading and sharing.