The Save Our Country Schoolhouse Committee (SOCS) and the Benton County Historical Society is pleased to announce the acquisition of one of the few remaining intact one-room country schools, Monroe Township No. 5. Benton Country is one of only three counties in the state that has not preserved a country schoolhouse.

 

 

The plan is to move the schoolhouse from its present rural location to a Historical Society property east of the Railroad Depot in Vinton. Once the property is set on a new foundation, renovation of both the interior and exterior will occur. The end-result will be a historical museum depicting a classroom as it was prior to 1930, preserving rural education for students and public to experience.

 

In addition to the classroom, the facility will also house historical archives of the county and serve as a genealogy research library.

 

Landscaping of the grounds completes the planned project. Long term, it is planned for the schoolhouse location be used as educational center with historical programming for students as well as adults.

 

To raise the funds necessary to complete this project, SOCS is offering you an opportunity to memorialize or honor a loved one and help to raise money for the schoolhouse project at the same time.