Definitely one of the most engaging grave markers I've seen in my travels.
Photographed at Bethel Cemetery near Wildrose, North Dakota on June 20, 2023.
"Eunola School
"1898 - 1962
"The original school, 18 ft. by 28 ft., was built on S.W. 7-4-28 at a cost of five hundred and eight dollars. In 1900 it was moved to S.W. 2-4-29 and moved again in 1918 to S.E. 11-4-29. Fire demolished this building on April 16, 1937."That fall, a new, more modern school was built and used for educational and social functions. It went under a municipal board in 1956 and closed in 1962. Forty-two teachers taught the many children of the area."We dedicate this cairn, in loving memory, to the pioneers of the district, the trustees, parents. teachers, pupils and all who helped in any way over the years."
"Norwegian Lutheran services were held as early as 1904, and in 1910 the Bethesda Norwegian Lutheran congregation was organized. In 1912, Martin Johnson, a carpenter from South Dakota, was retained to construct Bethesda Lutheran Church with the assistance of the congregation. Situated on an open parcel, the graceful steeple of this church can be seen for miles across the flat prairie landscape. Modernized in 1928 with a concrete basement and furnace, the church served the surrounding rural community for church services, weddings, funerals, meetings and bazaars. Many of the area's first settlers rest in the cemetery, which is located at the rear of the church. Because of a steadily diminishing congregation, Bethesda Lutheran Church closed in 1973."
An abandoned school in Hamlet, North Dakota.
From the sheer size it must have been a consolidated school...and awfully impressive in its heyday.
Photographed on June 20, 2023.