Recording North Dakota’s township schools
McLean Co. native documents history
BY HUNTER L. ANDES
A McLean County native is making a big difference in terms of North Dakota history. At one time, there was thought to have been over 5,000 township schools throughout North Dakota, but as time wears on, that number continues to dwindle.
Kathy Holtan Wilner, known in these parts as the Township School Lady, is a volunteer for the North Dakota State Historical Society, has been trying to find the ones still standing. Over the course of the last ten years, Wilner has found 564 township schools, travelling to nearly every county in North Dakota. She has been to all but five counties, as they were either previously recorded or had no schools.
Wilner herself didn’t go to township school, but the school her family went to still stands east of Underwood.
“I went to school in Washburn, but with this project, I feel like I might have missed out on something wonderful,” she said. “The school my grandpa, Oscar Nordquist, attended is east of Underwood about six miles on Highway 200 and a quarter mile south. The land was donated by my great grandfather, Frank Nordquist, and it was built in 1885 and its name is Ingersoll School.”
Wilner said Veeder Township, like most townships, had four schools at one time; however, the one that stands east of Underwood was built before those.”
“This school wasn’t used for a school for many years,” she said. “It was built in the middle of the township in 1885, but that was too far for kids to travel. So, the township turned it into the township hall and built four schools throughout the township.”
She said it was this school that kind of piqued her interest in the project.
