A 2nd Skipperpalooza Reunion has been planned to celebrate memories of this wonderful school.
* The Middle River School District 126 was established on April 4, 1906. Before that, in the fall of 1905, classes were held in a one-room building located north of the former Berg’s Drug Store.
* In 1907 a new two-room school building was built for the children of the community at the Park addition, east of the present school.
* A special election was held on December 31, 1914 to vote on a bond to build a new school at the estimated cost of $15,000.
* In September 1915 the school was completed for classes with an enrollment of 102 pupils. It was described by architect Bert Keck of Crookston as a “four-room brick building with a full basement and all modern conveniences, including heating apparatus, chemical toilets, drinking fountains, approved ventilation, and all the necessary assessories for accommodating manual training and domestic science departments at a cost of $20,000.”
* In March of 1916, the citizens of Middle River voted to become an Independent School District with a new 6-man board.
* Dedication for the new school was held on May 19, 1916.
* In May of 1919 the old two-room school was sold and the school built a new 20’ x 30’ addition for manual training.
* The Middle River School continued to operate as usual until Saturday, April 22, 1944 when “the fire spread through the entire brick veneer building to reduce it to a mess of ruins” according to a report in the Middle River Record.
* To finish out the year, the First Lutheran Church was used for the high school, the Finnish Lutheran Church was used for grades 3, 4, 5 and the Seventh Day Adventist Church for grades 6, 7, and 8. The manual training building was used for grades 1 & 2.
* In May the school board contacted state representatives, requesting to purchase four or five of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) vacated buildings from the Thief Lake Area for $5 each. They eventually purchased 3 buildings for $100 each and had the buildings moved to begin renovating for education.
* Hallways, office, washrooms, and custodial storage space were added to these buildings. The entire exterior was stucco. The total cost of the new school buildings, school equipment, labor, materials, insurance, rental and repairs were a total of $30,170.
* In the fall of 1944, all elementary students were housed in the new building, but the high school wing was not completed so grades 9-12 continued to be housed in First Lutheran Church for the entire year. For the next 4 years, all elementary and high school students were educated in the CCC school facility.
* In May of 1945, the manual training building was moved to the northwest corner of the facility and served as a classroom and also a band room.
* In 1949 the Rankin School was moved to the northeast corner of the CCC facility.
* Consolidation of Country schools starting taking place in September 1949 and many students began attending Middle River School District 126. With the additional students, it was again necessary to rent space around town for education. The new tax base would allow a $150,000 building project. The board had two choices according to a January 1950 report. The first was to haul in more buildings and attach them to the present structure, and the second was to construct a new building. The public was hopeful that the building project could begin in the spring.
* The board called for a vote to be held on May 16, 1950.
The voters cast 220 ballots for a new school and only 26 ballots against the proposition. Students were active in campaigning for a new school, going from business to business and marching with placards.
* Two bids were way over budget and in February 1951 a lower bid was accepted for a new method called Jet Crete. This consisted of cinder blocks stacked on top of each other and then both sides of the wall were “Jet Creted.” It was quick and efficient. The building consisted of 4 classrooms, chemistry lab, darkroom, two offices, supply room, two lavatories, furnace room, storage room near lobby, library, supply room for the hot lunch kitchen, ticket office, and a 60’ x 101’ auditorium with a 20’3” ceiling. The old school would be turned into an elementary school.
* The school was ready for use when school opened September 4, 1951. The dedication of the auditorium took place on December 7, 1951, held between halves of the Lake Bronson vs. Middle River basketball game.
* There continued to be a shortage of room, and by 1954, the school board commenced another, small building project.
* On March 4, 1954 a bond issue went to the voters of the Middle River District in the amount of $31,000. The vote was 186 for and 18 against. The new construction project consisted of three new classrooms; agriculture, home aconomics, and one small general classroom. A state grant was also obtained to equip the new classrooms.
* The dedication was held on September 30, 1954.
* In 1968 the CCC building had served the school district for 25 years, with the decision to remove the old building and build a new elementary school.
* The special bond election on March 26, 1968 resulted in the largest turnout in the history of the school. A total of 382 votes were cast with 362 for and 20 against the $385,000 bond.
* The building plans called for an addition of an agriculture shop, a kitchen six elementary classrooms, a special education room, a multi-purpose room, a high school classroom, a library, an elementary principal’s office, a work storeroom, and boys and girls washrooms. A couple of the selling points were comparisons of the present and proposed kitchen and industrial arts areas. The kitchen located to the east of the gym was 12’x 24’ and the gym was used as a cafeteria. The area used for woodworking was 11’x28’ totaling 308 square feet. The Minnesota Department of Education recommended a total of 2,400 square feet for a new shop, and that was the size decided on.
* The construction project began in the fall of 1968 and the school was mostly ready for occupancy by the time school opened on August 26, 1969.
* Since 1969, several areas of the school building have been renovated and remodeled including a new front entrance in 1998.
* In the fall of 1992 the Middle River and Greenbush schools entered into a pairing program. All grades 9-12 attended the Greenbush site along with an elementary and all grades 7-8 attended the Middle River site which also housed an elementary. It was an ideal situation. In 1995, the Middle River school district consolidated with the Greenbush School District becoming Greenbush- Middle River School District #2683. After a few years of declining enrollment, several realignments were attempted, leading to the the decision to close the building in May of 2018.
* In September 2018 the City Council of Middle River purchased the building and it is currently serving the area as the Middle River Legacy Center.
