Sunday, Sept. 18 at 12:30 p.m.
A reception honoring the gift of the Crow Valley School by Richard Schneider and Bud McBride will be held this Sunday
Orcas Island Historical Society and Museum will hold a special gathering this Sunday!
The Open House and Dedication of the Crow Valley School (CVS) will begin this Sunday, Sept. 18 at 12:30 p.m. and will honor the former owners Richard Schneider and Bud McBride, who last June deeded the school over to OIHM .
The Museum has provided docents for the School in an informal arrangement the last several years, opening Crow Valley School for the enjoyment of visitors in the summer.
In 1888,when Washington was still a territory, the Pleasant Valley School (later called Crow Valley School) was built on one acre of land, donated by settler Peter Frechette. In the heyday of Orcas’ fruit orchard industry, the one-room school had as many as 47 students enrolled, 27 average in attendance. CVS closed in 1918, after which the consolidated Eastsound school served the whole island. The building continued to be used for community events, housing a women’s club, the “Willing Workers” (later called the Crow Valley Club). The building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in August, 1987.
When Richard and Bud purchased the property, they proceeded to restore the building with painstaking care, spending hundreds of hours researching the history of not only Crow Valley School, but all the San Juan County District schools. Richard had a special motivation to uncover the school’s past, as both his mother and uncle were students there.
To contact the Historical Museum, call 376-4849, email orcasmuseum@rockisland.com or visit www.orcasmuseum.org
Thanks to Margot Shaw, whose original article is excerpted here.
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