My discovery of the Kingsley School in Gratiot, Lafayette County, was amazing. I was driving on Hwy 11 toward Gratiot and spotted what looked like an old schoolhouse. So I hung a right turn on Kingsley Rd. There was a white SUV ahead of me on Kingsley Rd. He turned onto the property, did a U-turn, and returned toward me. By this time, I had done a 180 on Kingsley Rd and stopped. The net effect was our cars were next to each other, and we could talk through the car windows.
The man in the SUV asked, “Are you looking for me?” I was initially lost for words, but I could see the man was an elderly gentleman, so I responded, “No, but I am interested in this building. Was it once a schoolhouse?” He said, “Yes.” He then told me he and all his children had gone to this school.. He added it was the Kingsley School.
Wow, I thought, what a coincidence. The man said he wanted to restore it. I guess he could do that since the schoolhouse was on his property.
There were no markings on the building that I could see. Regrettably, I did not ask when it was built. The village plat for Gratiot was first laid out in 1835. It was laid out again in 1856. The Mineral Point Railroad came through in 1856. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad built a line from Monroe to Schullsburg in the 1880s and passed through Gratiot.
I wanted to show you this photo. I took it from my car on Kingsley Rd. You can see the tire marks where the gentleman in the white SUV drove on the property and did a U-turn! That was a riot!
