Pleasant View grade school was located in the township of Moundville in Marquette County, Wisconsin on the north west corner of county road O and county road T.
In the 1930s it was a K through 8th grade one room schoolhouse taught by one teacher, with no indoor plumbing or central heating. If we had to go to the bathroom we had to use an outhouse. An outhouse was a toilet that was quite a distance from the main building. In those days most country homes and businesses did not have indoor plumbing. For heat we used a big black belly wood/coal burning stove. I remember drying our mittens on it during the winter. We also had a wood shed and pump house.
My dad, Wayne Mountford, first attended this school in 1925 or 1926 for 1st grade and was there all the way through the 8th grade. I, Marianne Mountford, entered in the fall of 1949 and attended all 8 grades. When I was in about the 3rd grade my father and the 3 members of the school board saw to it that we had indoor plumbing and central heat.
There were no janitors or any other staff members other than the teacher at the school, so all the children had chores to do. The older boys would go to the pump house and bring in water for drinking. We would all use the same pail of water and the same ladle to drink from and thought nothing of it. Bring wood in to burn during the winter, cleaning the school — including the chalk board, windows, floors, outhouses, and when we got indoor plumbing we had to clean the bathrooms. These were just some of the chores we had to do.
Every morning we would gather around the flag pole in front of the school for the raising of the American flag and the pledge of allegiance. In 1954, I was in the 6th grade and the cold war was in full swing. Dwight Eisenhower was the president and he signed into law the phrase “under God” to be added to the pledge of allegiance. Then in the afternoon we would again gather around the flag pole to bring down the flag and fold it.
Every day, the milk man would deliver white and chocolate milk in glass jars with a brick of ice on the top of them so they would stay cold. We would have a glass of milk in the morning and a glass with our lunch. Lunch was not provided by Endeavor until I started the 6th grade. Before that, our mothers would take turns cooking lunch and bringing it to the school. Some of the mothers were very good cooks while others were not so good. I remember some of our lunches we had cream of onion soup and sometimes we had grape jelly and marshmallow sandwiches. One day, a mother named Blanche gave us homemade ice cream. That was the first time most of us had ever had homemade ice cream. Oh boy, it was so delicious! My mother did not cook but she did take care of the school books and food commodities.
When I went to school here, there was a front entranceway where we would hang our coats and leave our wet boots against the wall. There was also a storage closet for Christmas decorations and supplies for outdoor activities.
On Halloween, some of the older children would go around the neighborhood and turn over the outhouses. The girl’s toilets were made of wood and easy to turn over but the boys were cement blocks so they were usually left alone. At Christmas time we would present a school play. Several times a year we would have cake socials to raise money.
When the weather was warm enough, we would have an hour at noon to eat lunch and play outside. We played Annie Annie Over with a softball and quite often a window would get broken. Most of the time we usually played baseball. We would also play against Elm Grove school, which was located 2 miles west on county road O and old 51.
On the west side of the school, there was a large playground and field which we called a play yard. We had a merry-go-round, teeter totter, sandbox, many oak trees to play in and around, and a swing set. The swings were made of two chains and a board to sit on. I remember one day while we were playing who could jump the furthest out of the swing, Carol H. broke her arm.
Sometimes during winter if there was enough snow on the ground and it was just right, we would go next door to the Shaw farm and play. They had a nice size hill to slide down. We would make snow forts and we had many snowball fights. If the weather was too bad outside, we would push the desk to the side of the room and have square dancing.
Because there was only one teacher for 9 grades, we all became teachers. She could not always teach just one grade at a time, so we would have to help her teach the younger students. My seventh grade year, we had two special ed students. Both of them were at different grades and learning speeds. So my cousin, Millie taught Helen J. and I taught Gwen K.
My years at Peasant View grade school were so very important to me and helped to make me the woman that I am today. Our education did not always come from a book. We learned how to help each other, sportsmanship, how to rely on others, and so much more. We developed friendships that have lasted our entire lives. There were so many memories, I will never forget my wonderful years at Pleasant View.
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