Abandoned and leaning to the east, this old one-room schoolhouse will only weather a few more winter snows.
: : :
A strong wind might also be the cause of it succumbing to gravity and falls to the ground.
Another school about forty miles away, another one-room school, Lynn School, is still standing straight and quite sound.
: : :
Skeen school used to have a bell tower, near the covered porch,
on the roof line where you see a large aluminum patch over the hole where it once stood.
: : :
I saw an image of this school in a book about fifteen years ago, but other than a name,
there was no hint as to its location except it was in the Palouse
(the premier wheat growing region of south eastern Washington State).
: : :
While traveling around the Palouse a couple years ago,
I turned down a dirt road by the name of Fugate Road, to see where it went and what was there,
I came up over a gentle rise in the freshly plowed spring wheat fields and there it was!
Imagine my surprise!
I could have driven around for a long time and never found it, so stumbling upon it was a delight.
I had even asked the Fire Chief in Colfax if he knew where it was, he had no idea.
The wheat farm upon whose land the school now sits,
uses it for storage of implements and gear,
no more books and
chalk dust
here.
: : :
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What a lovely place!! I’m glad you photographed this while it was still standing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love abandoned buildings! So much more fun than the new architecture we’ve got! :)
Yes Christina, obviously I do too! No only do I love photographing them, but the walk around is thought provoking, imagining who had been there and what were they like!
What a great story! The way that building is leaning, it’s a miracle that it’s still standing now. It’s good that you’ve captured it while you can.
For most of these old schoolhouses, they’ve been vacant for nearly 70 years… time and weather takes a toll… each one gone is a loss of rural heritage.
This reminds me of an N.C. Wyeth painting! Very nice and hauntingly sad too.
Thank you Rachel… it is a bit Wyeth at that… what a HUGE compliment! :-)
Bizarre, almost looks like it melted. I supppose you could Photoshop it straight :-)
Ah yes… the magic of Photoshop! Lol! I’ll have to post another image of the schoolhouse that shows the eastward lean, it is SO much more dramatic than the slight southward lean shown here in this post… you’ll wonder how it still stands… thanks for visiting!
Pretty impressure from this view, let me know when you post the east view
Will do!
That’s so cool! I love this shot, especially with that dramatic cloudscape behind. Kudos.
-Kim
I agree Kim, I think that the land is flat enough that the sky seems to to be bigger and more dramatic in the Palouse, and in the Spring the sky constantly changes, snow, sleet, rain and of course sun!
Absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks Reed, the wide open spaces and huge skies are so dramatic and beautiful… it would be difficult NOT to take a good shot! :-)