Lonsdale & its Schools

This article consists of articles from the Spring 2003 and the Summer 2013 editions of the Rice County Historical Society newsletter. The primary section of the article was written by RCHS Volunteer Pauline Schreiber.

The birth of a community is always an interesting and complicated story.  For Lonsdale, the beginning of the community was precipitated by the building of a railroad line.

 In 1857, James Wilby claimed land in Wheatland Township.  In 1900, Wilby negotiated with the railroad for a line that would come through the area. In 1902 the Farmington to Wells branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad came through the Wilby’s property.  Thus, and the village of Lonsdale born and businesses started to sprout around the railroad.  A Lonsdale post office was established in 1902, and Lonsdale was incorporated in 1903.  The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad is credited with naming the village.

Trail traffic ends

At the start of the community the railroad spurred growth, bringing immigrants who settled on farmland around Lonsdale or started businesses in town. While many of these immigrants came from Czechoslovakia, earlier settlers were also from New England, Ireland and Germany. The town eventually became best known most for its Czech heritage.

Lewis Vikla, who was born in 1909 in Lonsdale, wrote in his book, Village Born, “dominant skyline structures (in early Lonsdale) were two grain elevators and the water tower, plus the wooden windmill by the railroad for pumping water into a tank which was used to supply water for the steam locomotives.”  Vikla also wrote that as a boy, he “never tired from watching the trains coming and leaving town.”

At Minnesota State Fair time, Vikla remembered, two extra coaches going to St. Paul were put on the train to accommodate the additional passengers going to the fair.

Farmers would also load cream cans on the train to send them to St. Paul, and there was a stockyard by the railroad tracks to keep cattle until they could be loaded on a train to be shipped to the bigger stockyard in South St. Paul. During Vikla’s youth, it was trains that dominated transportation and most goods came or went by train, and most people traveled outside of town by hopping on a train.

Vikla wrote, “The passenger train, as a rule, pulled three cars, two coaches and one combination mail-express. For the mail section of the car there was a slot where you could drop your letter and it would be postmarked on the way.”

He added, “The freight train was also interesting in its own way. I liked to watch it switching cars and not too few times was coal shipped in, and more rarely sand in, gondolas. But the gondolas were also handy for tramps to ride on.”

 Vikla also remembered how in early summer, the Chautauqua entertainers would come to town with a big tent pitched in the middle of the main street, just north of the Catholic school, and entertainers would perform in the tent. When he was five years old, the first circus came to Lonsdale.  Both the circus and Chautauqua entertainers came by train. Without the train, Vikla remarked, neither would have visited Lonsdale.

 As time went on, and as the main mode of transportation changed to automobiles and trucks rather than train, Lonsdale’s population became stagnant. The railroad that named the village eventually declined and left town by the 1980s.  It wasn’t until the metropolitan Twin Cities area started to slowly creep south, led by the lure of cheaper land on which to build houses, that the community’s population started growing again. And grow it did, as fast as a steam locomotive.   

As a result of a residential building boom that occurred in the late 1990s and into the first decade of the current century, the size of Lonsdale has greatly changed.   Census records report the population of Lonsdale in 2000 at 1,491 with 560 households. The 2010 population zoomed to 3,674 with 1,277 households reported – double the number of households in just 10 years.

The Schools of Lonsdale

Five years after the community’s incorporation, a two-story schoolhouse was erected in the village. It was one of Rice County’s rural school district # 76. The 1908 school served the community for 40 years.  This building was restored by the 3R Landmark group in the 1980s.  The 3R Landmark group was instrumental in getting the structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places.   Today, this building serves as a museum for the community.

After 40 years of having school in the two-room schoolhouse, Lonsdale became part of a sweeping change in education in the state as rural school districts began to consolidate with larger school districts. The result of consolidation in 1948 meant that part of Lonsdale and its surrounding rural area became part of the Montgomery-Lonsdale School District, and the northern parts of the city and rural areas around it merged with the New Prague School District.

The Immaculate Conception Church of Lonsdale was built soon after the town was founded, and in 1912 a Catholic school was constructed. Eventually, as the number of students attending the school declined, it merged with the Catholic parishes of Veseli and New Market to provide a consolidated school system. Today, there is a new Catholic school that has replaced the old schools in those communities.  Holy Cross School was constructed in rural Webster, just a few miles from Lonsdale. Many Lonsdale youngsters attend Holy Cross School.

Recently (2013), a new K-4 elementary school was built in Lonsdale, fueled by the recent residential growth in the area.

In his book, Lewis Vikla remembered his first year in school, which was in the District 76 two-story schoolhouse. He remembers how the younger grades were on the first level and the older grades on the upper level.  Punishment for bad behavior in school came from either a slap on the wrist from ruler or pointer or being sent to the corner for a time. Vikla preferred the rap on the wrist that was over with quickly than being sent to stand in the corner. Time spent there seem to go on and on with other students watching.

The 3R Landmark Corporation

Beginnings

The 3R Landmark Corporation had its start on November 15, 1978.  On that day, Mrs. Loretta Reece, who with her husband, owns a farm near Lonsdale, met with 15 Lonsdale women to discuss the idea of restoring the two story Lonsdale pubic schoolhouse, built in 1908 but abandoned in 1948.  That meeting led to these events in late 1978 – the making of a model to show what the restored schoolhouse would look like; the forming of a Restoration Committee; the beginnings of research into the background of Patrick Sullivan, builder of the school; and the drafting of an application for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

Organizational Stages

By January 1979, the Lonsdale City Council approved the application, and it was submitted to the Minnesota Historical Society.  Shortly thereafter, architect William Broderson suggested the Restoration Committee change its name to the 3R Landmark Corporation.  The first officers were:  Loretta Reece, President; Agnes Kadrlik, Vice President, Leonard Daleiden, Treasurer, Rose Smisek, Secretary, Ben Malecha, Director-At-Large.

Promotional Activities

In April 1979, the 3R Landmark Corporation held a public meeting in the Lonsdale American Legion Hall to discuss possible uses of the school, to unveil a model of the school, and to present slides explaining the project.  Various speakers spoke in support of the school.  Two hundred and fifty (250) citizens attended the meeting.

Events happened quickly following the meeting.  These included:  a presentation of ink drawing and note cards by Michael Hackett, a local artist; and erection of a sign in front of the schoolhouse asking for community support of the restoration.  In the meantime, 3R Landmark presented their case before a Lonsdale business group, held a barn dance to show appreciation for local support, appeared before Rice County commissioners to request revenue funds, met before the Grant Committee of the Minnesota State Historical Society, and staged a major fundraising concert in New Prague.  The concert featured Mrs. Rose Smisek and her daughter, Sister Anita Smisek.  In September these various activities culminated in the Lonsdale Public Schoolhouse being listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Groundbreaking, Building, Subsequent Fund-Raising

In December, 1979, the Lonsdale City Council approved a ninety-nine year lease of the schoolhouse to 3R Landmark Corporation.  In March, 1980, an article on the project appeared in the Sunday picture magazine of the Minneapolis Tribune.  Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on April 22, with over 100 citizens, including the mayor, attending.  At this point, 3R Landmark signed a contract with the architect and fundraising was begun in earnest.  The Lonsdale Lions Club staged a pig-roast; the State Bank of Lonsdale and Robert Pint, owner of Lonsdale Machine and Tool Company, contributed to the project.  These contributions, along with generous donations from members proved sufficient to initiate construction in September, 1980.  By November, foundation work, utility connections, and grading on the grounds were completed.  In the interim, 3R Landmark held a reunion for former students and teachers, and current friends of the schoolhouse.

Lonsdale Schoolhouse

The Lonsdale Schoolhouse was old Rice County School District 76.  The historic building was erected in 1908 and abandoned around 1948 when Lonsdale elementary students began to attend neighboring consolidated schools.

After a seven year restoration project sponsored by 3R Landmark, Inc., the Lonsdale Schoolhouse was reopened to the public in October 1986.  The first floor of this two story building is a museum; the second floor is preserved as the original school room.  The School, with its unique cupola, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Today it serves the community as an historic monument to the immigrants who settled around Lonsdale.