CLAY COUNTY ILLUSTRATED 



11 



Jorgen Jensen School House 



Schools of Clay County 

 The people of Clay have been 

 staunch supporters of the schools of 

 the county since the earliest settlement. 

 Districts Nos. 1 and 2, Glynclon and 

 Moorhead, were organized on Febru- 

 ary 13, 1873, each with a large area of 

 territory. The third district formed 

 was in Parke township, and today it 

 has the largest enrollment of any of 

 the rural schools of the county. 



The oldest school building now 

 standing is the Jorgen Jensen school 

 house in District No. 8. This is a fine 

 example of the work of the pioneers, 

 who were always proud of the fact 

 that their district never was in debt. 



The manner of building this school 

 house shows the community spirit of 

 the early days. Each settler brought 

 four logs to be used in building the 

 walls. Then these logs were hewed 

 and fitted together by the donors. To 

 complete the building the joint note 

 of the settlers was given as security for 

 payment of the bill for hardware and 

 lumber. The log walls are still in use, 

 although they have been sided and a 

 brick foundation has been placed un- 

 der the building. A vestibule and bell 

 tower have also been added. 



The free text book system is in force 

 throughout the entire county. There 

 are over 5,000 children of school age, 

 the enrollment in the high and graded 

 schools being 2,146; in the rural and 

 semi-graded 2,586, and fully 300 at- 

 tend the State Normal School at Moor- 

 head, Concordia College and several 

 parochial schools. 



There are 109 school districts in the 

 county, five of them consolidated. 

 Clay was one of the first counties to 

 take advantage of the law providing 

 for the consolidation of school districts 

 and giving high school training. The 

 first district formed was at Comstock, 

 where the A'illage and two rural schools 

 were combined in 1909. This school 

 proved so successful that in 1912 three 



The Thomas McCabe School House, Southeast of Sabin 



