The Old Rock School, which presently houses the town library, is among the oldest buildings in town…but was actually the town’s third school building. Built of fieldstone, it was also a past home for Crested Butte’s Town Museum.
The first school, a small frame structure up on the bench near the “Big Mine”, was built in 1880-81. That was a bit of a hike for the town children, especially during the winter snows…so the town bought some of the present school property and in the summer of 1881 built another frame building pretty close to where the present “middle school” building stands. The “Old Rock” was built adjacent, two years later. The system now had 36 students in eight grades.
Enrollment had grown to 225 by the turn ofthe century. After some 10 years of overcrowded classrooms, Crested Butte School District Number Eight finally bit the bullet and we’re sure quite painfully voted to indebt themselves $13,000 to build a two story red brick building in place of the “frame” schoolhouse. The old building was cut in half and sold to two families to be used as private homes. One half later burned down, but the other is still the basic structure at the four Way stop, which presently houses “Alpine Outside”. lt isn’t the oldest building in town…We’re quite confident it’s the oldest “half-building”!
Next Week…more school stuff.
Source: “A Crested Butte Primer” by Gearge Sibley
Rob Quint