CLAY COUNTY, Minn. – Minnesota’s National Register of Historic Places has added a piece of Clay County history to their register. It’s the Rollag Woodland School, located a mile east of Rollag. It was the first rural Clay County school district to open and the last to close.
Mark Piehl, the senior archivist with the Clay County Historical Society, says it was built in 1896 and served the community until it was purchased by the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County which maintains it as a museum.
Piehl said in 1961, the school board decided to close the school and send their kids to Hawley and Barnesville. On the last day of class, the teacher unplugged the clock and went home.
“It’s been like a little time capsule – 1961 ever since,” Piehl said. “The clock’s still there (reading) twenty minutes to three.”
The location and design of the school are also unchanged. Most of the original materials and workmanship are in place, including the original siding, windows, interior millwork, and school fixtures including slate blackboards and a jacket stove.
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