Property Record
SW CORNER OF STATE HIGHWAY 50 AND SNAKE RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WOOD SCHOOL |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | WOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 4 |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 64452 |
| Location (Address): | SW CORNER OF STATE HIGHWAY 50 AND SNAKE RD |
|---|---|
| County: | Walworth |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Geneva |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 2 |
| Range: | 17 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 33 |
| Quarter Section: | SE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SE |
| Year Built: | 1886 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | 1900 |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | school-one to six room |
| Architectural Style: | Gabled Ell |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | The school was built by Irish immigrants who had worked on the construction of the Wisconsin Central Railroad and decided to settle in the area. Simeon B. Chapin built a stone wall. [B]. Historical Background: As designated in 1857, the Lake Geneva School District #1 included the center of Irish settlement along the north shore of the lake known as the Irish Woods (roughly centered at the intersection of Highway 50 and the western end of Snake Road). [See Immigration]. The Irish settleres who lived there petitioned to control their own schools and were granted a separate school district, but no sooner was that done than the majority of citizens in the new district voted to rejoin the Lake Geneva district. Land for a school was donated by Lige Marbie, and a wooden building was erected . In 1886 this building was moved to Martin Nohelty's farm to be used as a cow barn. In exchange, Nohelty gave the school grounds another quarter acre of land. The orignial one-room brick portion of the present Woods School building [12/7] was constructed in 1886. A second room was added to the west in 1900. The larger addition to the south was made in recent years. A disagreement over the building of a new high school in Lake Geneva prompted the Woods School residents to again elect for independence, and it has been a part of Joint District #4 since 1929. The question of merger with the Lake Geneva district has come up periodically. The last time the issue was raised in May of 1965, it was defeated by an unusualy heavy turnout of rual voters determined to save their country school. A computer-driven survey (MAP) in 2020 found that this building is now attached to a much larger Contemporary Style school building. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Lake Geneva "Regional News," 7/24/1958; 5/27/1965. B. Gage, Mary Burns and Ann Wolfmeyer, "Lake Geneva, Newport of the West," 1976, p. 58. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |