Pioneer Education in Western Colorado

Pioneer Education in Western Colorado. . , This location has played an important role in the education of Lake City area children for over a century. , Lake City's first private school was organized in 1875 by Prof. T.H. Cannon who taught a class of 40 students “all branches of English” for $3 a month. For an additional $2 a month, Prof. Cannon taught bookkeeping, business and mining law. , Hinsdale County School District No. 1 was formed in January of 1876 and on January 10 of that year enrolled 28 students in the county's first public school. The school was one of the earliest schools on the Western Slope of Colorado. The mining boom years of the late 1870's increased Lake City's population to over 2,000 and local promoters felt a larger and more substantial school would be an additional attraction. In 1880 Hinsdale County voters approved a $12,500 bond issue to build a “commodious two story building, to be built either of brick or stone.” A majority of the lots in this block, Block 26 of the Town of Lake City, were acquired for the new structure. The building was estimated to have cost in excess of $30,000 by the time it was completed in 1881. , The new brick school, which was designed by prominent Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub, included first-story brick walls which were 16-inches thick. Public corridors divided the first and second floor classrooms; the lower floor had two large classrooms for 112 primary and elementary students, while the upper floor was designed with a high school room for 110 students and two recitation rooms. State and local officials joined Crystal Lake Lodge No. 34, AF and AM, for cornerstone laying ceremonies on October 16, 1880; officers of the Hinsdale County School Board at that time were Dr. David S. Hoffman, President; Maj. J.W. Brockett, Treasurer; Mrs. Virginia P. Bishop, Secretary; and E.D. Boutone, County Superintendent. , The school district's first two-year high school was organized in 1896 and, in 1898, had as its first graduates C.B. Paterson; Lula Lawler, Mary Lawler, Edith Bent, Alice Donnell, Sadie Isaacs and Ray Madison. Valeria Paterson and Rene B. Wright were the first four-year graduates of Lake City High School in 1901. Local high school students were bused to Gunnison, Colorado, beginning in 1967; Seventh and Eighth Grade students were also sent to Gunnison beginning in 1978. , Classes continued to be held in the 1880 school until 1949 when, due to structural deterioration, it was necessary to remodel the building and remove the second story. The remodeled school was then used for all primary and high school classes, and later only kindergarten through Sixth Grade instruction, from 1950 to 1986. The building was demolished in 1987; the stone “Public School” sign and “1880” date on this corner were salvaged from the old building. , The new Lake City school was built on a site immediately behind the old school. The new building was designed by SunDesigns Architects, of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and was completed in January, 1987, at a cost of $414,000. A portion of the funding was contributed through the Colorado Energy Impact Fund, Dept. of Local Affairs. Cornerstone laying ceremonies were held April 3, 1987, with Crystal Lake Lodge No. 34, AF and AM, once again officiating. Hinsdale County School Board Directors at the time were Mrs. Marian J. Hall, President; Mrs. Marian K. Hollingsworth, Treasurer; J. Don Berry, Miss Christine McDonald and Mrs. Gayle Meredith. Dr. James D. Murlless was County Superintendent. By coincidence, it was School Board President Mrs. Marian J. Hall's great-grandfather, Dr. D.S. Hoffman, who headed construction of the old Lake City school in 1880. , The new school was designed to mirror the rich architectural history of Lake City. The distinctive cupola dates to 1884 and was originally part of the Hiram Kelly estate in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The school is named after long-time Lake City educator Herbert G. Heath who served as teacher and principal of the school for a total of 38 years prior to his retirement in 1945.