Stillwater schoolhouse turns 90 years old

The Stillwater community recently celebrated the 90th birthday of a building that has served as a cornerstone for the community. Several times a year, residents get together for old-fashioned get-togethers and to raise funds for the upkeep of the building, which is technically still owned by the Churchill County School District.

"We have potluck suppers, a Christmas party and after the fall harvest, we have a potluck," said Marcia Ernst, who grew up in Stillwater. She said the community also has a spring picnic after the crops are planted, and the building is often the setting for weddings or family reunions.

The Stillwater Association has had the building appraised but there's no rush to purchase it.

"We just don't have that kind of money," Ernst said, adding they do have the first option to buy and have a very reasonable payment.

Swapping old memories is another thing that brings everyone together. Ernst attended first, second and third grade at the three-room schoolhouse. Like many though, she skipped second grade because there weren't many other students in that grade. Instead, she and another girl were bumped up another grade for a total of five students in the third grade in 1955, she said.

Ted de Braga, who graduated from the eighth grade from Stillwater Schoolhouse in 1952, said first through fourth grades were held in the smaller room, while fifth through eighth grades were conducted in the larger room. He said in any given year, approximately 35 to 40 students attended the school each year.

De Braga's father, Frank, also attended the Stillwater Schoolhouse about the time it was built. Frank's father, a miner working near Berlin, saw the 1914 poster advertising irrigated homestead lands in the Truckee-Carson Project and brought the family to Stillwater in 1916.

Ted de Braga remembers the playground with swings, monkey bars and a merry-go-round that he didn't much like to ride. He did, though, play softball and his school would play against the other country schools in the county including Harmon, Sheckler, St. Clair, Northam and Old River.

By the mid-1950s, though, only the Harmon and Stillwater schools remained. Ironically, both are located in the same area of the county between 10 to 20 miles northeast of Fallon.

The Churchill County Eagle newspaper reported the last eighth grade graduation in 1956 in its May 16 edition:

"Friday night, the Stillwater schoolhouse was the scene of a mixture of the joy at the end of school and sadness at the end of the school house. The Stillwater school, constructed in 1918, graduated Ardith Freeman and Edward Stark as its last two eighth graders in 1956.

"Although the program was very interesting to the large group attending, many of the old timers hated the thought of 'giving way to progress,' which was how Jack Diehl expressed it in his very fine graduation address.

"Mrs. Frank de Braga ended the ceremonies by passing out the diplomas. She gave a short speech expressing her regrets, and those of many other, that the Stillwater children would no longer have the opportunity of attending a country school."

Ernst said the building might not qualify for historic preservation grants, but the community still rallies to keep it open.

De Braga remembered when the residents held a painting work day and everybody just showed up with paintbrushes, ready to work.

"It's pretty well maintained by a lot of volunteers," de Braga said.

Ernst attended fourth grade at the Harmon school and continued her education at other schools in town. She said the transition from the country schools to the in-town schools was "pretty traumatic" because she and all her classmates were separated.

Because West End Elementary wasn't completed yet, Ernst attended fifth grade in the old Mormon church on Esmeralda Street which residents may remember recently as the dance studio.

George Machado, who said he's still not sure how he became president of the Stillwater Association, said they've invested a lot of money into installing a wheelchair ramp, purchasing a new roof, re-plumbing the building and painting inside and out. He said the electrical wiring could be upgraded, "if someone wants to help out."

Machado, a relative new-comer to the Stillwater community with only 10 years time logged in so far, said he has enjoyed meeting his neighbors at the schoolhouse for barbecues.

When he owned the Overland Hotel a few years ago, he would bring the catering truck to Stillwater to serve beer and barbecued food. Looking to the future of this old schoolhouse, Machado said the next project awaiting the association is finishing the lodge pole fence.