Nodaway Valley Historical Museum

04/13/2026

02/12/2026

Then and now. The Wakinshaw residence near Blanchard taken around 1910

11/22/2025

To say the Clarinda School District was in a difficult situation in 1955 would be an understatement. That spring, the district’s Junior High building was condemned, forcing 7th and 8th grade students to attend classes in substandard spaces scattered across Clarinda. At the same time, 9th grade students were crammed into an already full high school building. Compounding the issue, rural school closures were bringing a steady influx of elementary students into town, resulting in overcrowding at both Lincoln, and McKinley.
The district’s options were severely limited by law. The Clarinda Independent School District could not borrow more than $480,000 in total. Of that amount, $188,000 had already been borrowed to construct the new McKinley Grade School, leaving just $292,000 available—far short of what was needed to build a proper junior high school.
Several ideas were floated in response to the crisis. One was to consolidate surrounding rural schools into the district, which would raise the debt limit and ease the overall tax burden. This would have potentially allowed for the construction of a new Senior High School west of town. Other proposals included retrofitting the bottom floor of the condemned building or relocating former POW barracks to the school grounds to use as temporary classrooms.
However, these options met various roadblocks. Consolidation faced stiff opposition from rural residents, and the logistics and costs of retrofitting or repurposing old facilities proved to be impractical. Ultimately, the district moved forward with a plan to build a new Junior High School on the south end of town. A $292,000 bond issue was put before voters and passed easily, as local residents recognized there were few alternatives.
While the new building was not ideal for a junior high program, it was sufficient to house the 7th and 8th grade core classes, with students being bused to the high school for specialized classes, such as Music, Art, and Home Ec. The building also accommodated several elementary classes and was specifically designed to be easily converted into an elementary school if necessary in the future.
In the fall of 1956, students filled the desks of the new Garfield School for the first time. That year the building housed four sections of 7th and 8th grades, along with 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th grade students from the Garfield ward. When a new senior high school was completed in 1968, the junior high school relocated to the former high school building at 16th and Grant. The Garfield building then shifted to serve elementary students from the rural areas and the south side of town, helping to relieve overcrowding at the other attendance centers.
In 1992, the Clarinda Community School District restructured its grade configuration and reassigned grades K–2 to the Garfield building. Garfield Elementary was expanded into a K–8 facility in 1998. In 2020, the 7th and 8th grades were moved to the high school campus.
Today, the 69-year-old Garfield building remains an active part of the Clarinda school system, continuing to serve students in grades K–6

Do you have memories of Garfield Elementary? Please share them in the comments

11/13/2025

Is it Gladys DeVere from
The Gilded Age?
Taissa Farmiga in costume?
Nope — it’s the real deal:
Carrie Chapman Cowen, born in Maine in 1861, this photo was discovered in the Historic Archives of the Nodaway Valley Historical Museum!

10/30/2025

Following our previous post about the 1912 school, we had several people inquire about the annex building which also sat on the grounds.

By 1916, school officials were concerned over the serious safety concerns that the Garfield building’s third floor posed. Nationwide concern over fire safety—especially in the wake of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—had heightened public awareness of inadequate emergency exits in public buildings, including schools. The third floor of the Garfield building was inhabited by 5th and 6th-graders at that time. However, with only a single interior staircase and a fire escape designed for older high school students, in the event of a fire, it would prove difficult for students to quickly and safely exit the third floor. In response, the Clarinda school district proposed constructing a new annex behind the high school on the existing tennis courts. The new building would include two classrooms and a larger assembly hall to replace the undersized one in the main building. The original assembly space would then be divided into two additional classrooms. The project also called for the installation of an additional boiler to serve both buildings, as well as the purchase and development of a new athletic field to the south of the high school.
These improvements were packaged into a $60,000 bond issue, which voters approved in April 1916. Once the annex was completed, the district reorganized its grade configuration. Ninth-grade students were moved into the Senior High building, while all of Clarinda's sixth-grade students were reassigned to the Lincoln School. This left only the fifth grade on the third floor of the Garfield building, significantly easing overcrowding and improving overall safety.
After the construction of a new high school in 1923, the annex building housed the district’s kindergarten program. It continued to serve in that capacity until the late 1950s, when it was used as an attendance center for third and fourth grade students from the Garfield ward. During this time, it also became the site of the district’s hot lunch program. Following the completion of the new High school in 1969, the building served briefly as a learning center for students with special needs, before rounding out its use for the district as a storage building. The annex building was demolished in 2000.
Do you have any memories or photos of the annex building? Please share them in the comments!

You can see the annex building in the background of the photo

10/26/2025

Not long after the construction of the new high school on Lincoln Street, the district realized the building was inadequate. The structure was too small to accommodate Clarinda’s rapidly growing student population, which increased by 350 students between 1905 and 1912. The building also lacked a proper Home Economics room, an auditorium, and a gymnasium.
In the spring of 1912, bonds totaling $50,000 were approved with the goal of building a new senior high school on the east side of town. Plans called for a three-story brick building with wooden interior framing, measuring 81 by 112 feet. This new facility would serve students in grades 10 through 12 and be located on the Shambaugh block at 13th and Main. The building design included a gymnasium, locker rooms, Home Economics and shop classrooms, and restrooms on the first floor. The second floor featured an assembly room, administrative offices, an additional restroom, and four classrooms, while the third floor housed an auditorium and six additional classrooms.
C.F. Lueder of Cherokee, Iowa, was awarded the construction bid for $41,000, with a scheduled completion date of July 1, 1913. Students first walked the halls of the new school on September 1, 1913. The surrounding grounds, adorned with trees, shrubs, and sidewalks, were funded through community fundraising efforts. The citizens of Clarinda took great pride in the new building, which boasted the first school gymnasium in the region and helped relieve overcrowding at the Lincoln building.
In 1916, the community passed another bond issue, this time for $60,000, to build an annex on the tennis courts located at the south end of the high school. This addition allowed the ninth grade to move to the senior high building. Funds from the bond also enabled the district to purchase the block south of the building, where a new football field and track were constructed. Football had first been introduced at Clarinda High School in 1903, with the earliest games played in a pasture north of town.
After the Lincoln Junior High was destroyed in 1921, the district decided to build a new senior high on the site of the Garfield School. Once completed in 1923, the building was repurposed as a junior high school. Over time, concerns began to emerge about the structural integrity of the old building. In 1951, part of the north wall collapsed. A structural study revealed that the building’s exterior walls were significantly under-engineered and posed a serious risk of collapse without immediate repairs. The north wall was repaired and reinforced with metal supports, but it was clear the building was nearing the end of its usable life.
By March 1955, large cracks had formed in the south wall. An inspection by a structural engineer confirmed the wall was compromised and warned that the building could collapse at any time. He also stated that the cost of repairing and modernizing the structure would exceed the expense of constructing a new one. School officials scrambled to relocate students. The ninth grade was squeezed into the senior high, while seventh and eighth graders were housed temporarily in the armory, various churches, and the old train depot until a new building could be built.
The old junior high was demolished in 1957. Today, the Clarinda Community Schools bus barn stands on the site.
Do you have any memories of the old junior high school? Please share them in the comments!

10/20/2025

By 1905, Clarinda High School had grown significantly, fueled in part by rural students attending the town’s educational programs. State-mandated curriculum expansions highlighted the inadequacy of the existing Garfield building, which was no longer capable of supporting the growing student population. With the bonds for the North Ward building paid off in 1905, the community turned its attention toward building a new high school.
On July 2, 1904, voters overwhelmingly approved a $16,000 bond issue to fund the new school, later named Lincoln School. The selected site—on Clarinda’s northwest side—was owned by Jacob Butler, who initially resisted selling. The city secured the land only after threatening condemnation (likely via eminent domain). Though some advocated for a more central, east-side location closer to the majority of the sudent body, critics noted it was too near the existing schools. Ultimately, the western location at 20th and Lincoln was chosen.
The School was to be two stories tall, with a basement. Containing seven classrooms, one Science Lab, a Library, and four cloakrooms. The district planned to only finish 4 classrooms the first year, and then the others as they were needed. The building included a modern boiler heating system and electricity, a luxury for the time. Students first occupied the building in November of 1905, with all students in grades 7-12 attending the new school.
Clarinda continued to grow at a rapid pace and leading to the construction of a new senior high school in 1912, with the Lincoln building being relegated for junior high students.
Tragedy struck on the night of Saturday, November 12, 1920. Around 9 p.m., neighbors reported a fire. Though the fire department responded quickly, strong winds fanned the flames. Within an hour, the building was completely destroyed. Investigators believed spontaneous combustion of coal in the basement caused the fire.
Classes were temporarily held in the old Henshaw Hotel building, while the district attempted to raise funds for a new building. Insurance collected on the old building was $13,000, well short of the cost of replacing it. Rather than simply replacing the Lincoln School, the district opted to look at the long term needs of the district, and construct a new High school at the Garfield site instead, and construct a smaller, one story elementary school at the Lincoln site. A bond issue in the amount of $125,000 dollars were passed in 1921, and the building was completed in early 1922.

The building was one story tall, reusing the foundation of the old school. Contained six classrooms, restrooms, two play rooms, a furnace room and an office. The building was constructed to be entirely fireproof with concrete walls, and floors, along with a clay tile roof. Another notable feature was a statue of Abraham Lincoln adorning the main entry.
The building initially served as an elementary building for grades 1-6 living in the west ward of town. Following the addition of a multipurpose room in 1968, the basement was remodled to have a kindergarten classroom, music room, and lunch room. As Clarinda schools moved away from the neigborhood school format in the late 70s, the building hosted a variety of combinations of elementary grades until 1992 when it was closed due to budget cuts, and failure to meet modern ADA standards. The building has since been demolished.
Do you have any memories of Lincoln School? Please share them in the comments!

10/13/2025

After the construction of the 1877 school, Clarinda's population continued to steadily grow. As more families began to settle in Clarinda, the city expanded outward from the previous borders of the boulevard. In the fall of 1884, the city acquired a two-acre lot at the corner of State and 12th Street with the intention of building an elementary school for students in the northern part of the town on the site. In the Spring of 1885, Construction began. The school was to be two stories tall with 6 classrooms, 2 cloakrooms, a library, and an office. The building featured a pitched roof with an ornate bell tower. Students moved into the building in the fall of that year.
The building was renamed McKinley Elementary School in 1905 after former president William McKinley. Sometime in the 1910s, the building was modernized, with a basement being dug under part of the building to use as a furnace room, allowing the school to replace the old coal stoves with a steam boiler system. A tunnel fire escape was installed in the 1930s, and the belltower was removed.
By the 1940s, parents began to raise concerns over the condition of the school. The building had minimal electrical wiring, the Furnace was considered a hazard, failing inspection every year, leading to no insurance being held on the building. Narrow wooden staircases and inadequate fire escapes were also of concern. A 1952 bond election to construct a new McKinley elementary school, as well as new shop facilities, and a gymnasium on land donated by George Martin on the West side of town, with the plan of future expansion into a new high school, failed by a convincing margin. Opposition ranged from the increased tax burden to concerns over the location on the west edge of town. However, that didn't stop the state fire marshal from delivering an ultimatum to correct building hazards within a year. In 1953, the McKinley PTA began circulating a petition, calling for a bond issue not to exceed $188,000 for a new McKinley school.
Unlike the previous bond election, the bond issue of 1953 faced little opposition and passed easily. Construction of the new building began in the spring of 1954. The firm of Williamson & Loebsack of Topeka, Kansas, was hired as architects, and Browers Construction, also of Topeka, was hired as the general contractor. The School was to be constructed of concrete, containing 8 classrooms, office space, Bathrooms, gym, stage, and kitchen. Students filled the classrooms of the new school for the first time in the fall of 1954. Due to increased enrollment from the closures of rural schools, the state granted the use of the first floor of the old McKinley building for some elementary classes during the 1955-56 school year.
The Old McKinley building was demolished during the summer of 1956, and a new playground was constructed on the site. When the Clarinda Community School District formed in 1959, students who previously attended one-room rural schools were transported to the town schools. To accommodate the enrollment increase, the kitchen was converted into a classroom, and the gym and stage area were partitioned into an additional three rooms. Eventually, the school was able to revert these areas to their original use. McKinley continued to serve as a K-6 elementary school until sometime in the late 1970s when the Clarinda moved away from the neighborhood school system, hosting different combinations of elementary students until 1992, when the Clarinda Community School District again restructured its building configuration. McKinley became an intermediate school, hosting grades 3-5. Following the construction of an addition to Garfield Elementary in 1998, the McKinley school closed, becoming home to the school district’s central offices, a role it still serves today.
Do you have any memories of McKinley School? Please share them in the comments!

10/11/2025

See you all soon!

10/06/2025

By January 1877, it had become clear to the patrons of Clarinda that the frame building had become inadequate. The city's population had grown from under 500 in 1860 to nearly 2,000 in 1877. The rapid increase in enrollment pushed the 1860 building beyond its capacity. Rather than adding on another addition, it was decided to construct a new building. An election was held in February of that year to issue $20,000 in bonds to fund the construction of a new, modern school building at the site of the old one. The bonds were approved with 244 votes in favor and 59 votes against.

The school board quickly employed C.F. Driscoll of Omaha to draw up blueprints for the new school. The Building was to stand three stories tall, with Italianate architecture. The building measured 75’ x 67’. The first floor was divided into four classrooms, a teacher's lounge, four cloakrooms, and a washroom. The second floor housed a library, three classrooms, and two cloakrooms. Finally, the third floor housed the principal's office, the school board room, two cloakrooms, and another 4 classrooms for High School students.
The residents of Clarinda were obviously very proud of their new school. The Building served the city well for many years in several different iterations. The first function of the school was to serve all Clarinda students in grades 1-12. Following the construction of the North Ward grade school in 1885, the building continued to house South Ward Grade School and Clarinda Jr/Sr High School. The most notable event to happen at the school was the speech given by President Theodore Roosevelt during a visit to Clarinda on April 28, 1903. Clarinda High School Athletics began during the 1877 building service to the district. The building lacked a gymnasium, so Basketball games were held on a dirt court on the school grounds. Originally known as the “Clarinda Tigers”, the mascot later changed to the Cardinal.
Clarinda’s population continued to skyrocket, and by the turn of the century, the present facilities were cramped and offered an inadequate learning environment for High schoolers. In 1905, the school board elected to build a new High school in the Northwest part of the city. At that time, all schools were renamed to honor assassinated presidents William McKinley, James Garfield, and Abraham Lincoln. The South Ward school was renamed Garfield and continued to house elementary students from the southern part of the city. By 1919, the Garfield building had begun to show its age. There were concerns with the span of the floor joists holding up the second and third floors, though an inspection made by a structural engineer in 1919 indicated the building was safe to use. Fire exits were also a concern, though the partial abandonment of the third floor in 1916 quelled those concerns.
Following the fire that destroyed Clarinda Junior High in 1921, the Clarinda School Board saw an opportunity to prepare the district for the future. The Garfield building was razed, with materials incorporated into a new Senior High School built on the site. The clock from the Garfield school was installed in the Clarinda courthouse and now resides at the Nodaway Valley Historical Museum.