Located in the town of Spirit,
Price County, Wisconsin
N894 S. German Settlement Rd.
(at the corner of County YY and
German Settlement Road)
Photo taken mid 1900's
Price County, Wisconsin
N894 S. German Settlement Rd.
(at the corner of County YY and
German Settlement Road)
Photo taken mid 1900's
Liberty School was built in 1919, replacing a small school that had stood on the same site for about twenty-five years. It was named "Liberty" because bringing liberty to captive nations was the mission of World War I and the war had just ended in 1918. Richard Paul was the general contractor and most of the construction materials came from Tomahawk Lumber and Supply. Like many schools of the era, Liberty School was designed to provide students a healthy and comfortable environment with a classroom that was flooded with natural light from three large windows on the east and five on the south. These windows reached almost to the top of the twelve foot ceiling. That twelve foot ceiling allowed for a large volume of fresh air in the school room. Fresh air was of such importance that the heating system was designed to always heat fresh air, instead of recycling stale air that might be contaminated with germs causing respiratory ailments. Because it was constantly heating fresh air, the big brick furnace in the basement consumed large amounts of 30-inch firewood every winter. The firewood was pitched into the basement every summer through a wood chute and in the fall the basement was piled high with firewood. Often, additional firewood was piled outside in the schoolyard. In the basement there were also two toilet rooms, one for girls (with three stools) and one for boys (with a urinal and two stools). No longer did children have to trudge through the rain or snow to the old privies outside; these innovative toilet rooms were inside. Since there was no running water in the school, these toilets were provided with a flue system connected to the furnace that made it possible to burn out the contents every summer. In the early 1940's the school was wired for electric lights. In the 1950's the heating system was modified, a new well was drilled, running water and modern lavatories were installed and fluorescent lights were installed in the classroom. The school closed in 1963.
Liberty School
