The Lower Pine Creek School

To lower Pine Creek School was built by Frank A. Knox about 1891, the first teacher of the school. Frank (also known as F.A.) was born December 21, 1851 in Warsaw, Illinois and came West over the Oregon Trail as a part of the Knox-Veatch wagon train that arrived in Lane County, Oregon September 9, 1953. In 1880, F.A. bought a ranch on Pine Creek.

The lower Pine Creek School was one of many one-room school houses that dotted Wheeler County to accommodate children who could walk or ride to school. School District #24 (1923), one of 35 school districts in Wheeler County, nestled in God’s country, amid sage, juniper, and rim rocks. The school house was unpainted, raw boards, with no modern facilities or electricity. Two outhouses; one for girls, one for boys, stood out back with a hitching rail between for students to hitch their horses while they attended school. There was no playground equipment. After 1931, a porch was added and the school was white-washed.

Teachers usually stayed with families in the area; most often the Lee, McCoy, Huntley or Chapman families. The teacher did the janitorial work as well as teaching. One day a month the students were dismissed while the teacher “oiled” the floor. The teacher earned approximately $50 per month in the early 1900’s. The teacher supplied water by carrying it from home to school in a bucket, which was placed on a table in the vestibule with a ladle provided for individual use.

Some students carried their own drinking water in glass jars and brought their own lunches, often bean or peanut butter sandwiches. A former student described the school as the “cultural center for the pioneer homesteaders, acting as the polling place, a church (when a minister was available), a place for dances, Christmas programs and music programs of the old time variety.” Former students have many fond memories of their school years, saying that school was “fun,” although students were expected to work hard at their studies. School was scheduled from around 9:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M.; with the students doing their chores before and after school. The lower Pine Creek School was rich in the neighborliness of the people who lived around it.

In June, 1935, a heavy rain caused flooding and the “rearrangement of real estate” in the Pine Creek area. Stock and buildings were lost in the flood, as well as some school records. Classes were conducted in the lower Pine Creek School until June, 1942.

The lower Pine Creek School is a source of many treasured memories for former students and teachers, as well as folks who lived in the area. It is a symbol of a simpler time of life, when grades one through eight were housed in a one-room building; and, teachers, students, and parents were resourceful in their commitment to education.