LAVA SCHOOL

Inscription

LAVA SCHOOL
DISTRICT 2 SCHOOL HOUSE
BUILT BY 1859, CLOSED 1938.
LAVA FIRE DEPARTMENT MEETING
HALL 1938-1952. SERVED AS
WWII OBSERVATION POST 1942.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2022

In 1859, the School Board held its Annual Meeting at School District No. 2 in the Town of Tusten to finalize construction plans. Subsequently, the school house was sided with pine and painted white, and both an outhouse and a woodhouse were built nearby.

The building operated as a school until 1938 when residents in the hamlet of Lava voted to close it and send the remaining five students to the centralized school district. That year, the Lava Volunteer Fire Department acquired the school house as their meeting hall.

During World War II, it also served as an observation post where civilian volunteers, or “watchers,” watched the skies for potential enemy aircraft until 1942. The Lava Fire Department later sold the building in 1952 and moved into a newly constructed meeting hall.

As of 2022, the former Lava school house serves as a private residence.