On June 27, 1891, Snohomish County School Superintendent B. H. Dixon approves the formation of School District No. 51, created out of two existing districts. The first school session is held in a local homesteader's shack, but soon land will be donated to build a log-cabin school. It will provide education to the growing population of pupils in the Jordan Valley area until 1923, when the district consolidates with Arlington School District. The Jordan Valley school is closed for good in 1927.
A School from a Homestead
On May 9, 1891, the settlers of Jordan filed a petition with Snohomish County School Superintendent B. H. Dixon to create a school district in their area. Six weeks later he approved the request, appointing J. G. Helseth, R. Robertson, and H. Lund as directors, and E. Ellingson as clerk. School was first held in a shack on Oluf Holmstad’s homestead, and he later donated an acre of land for school purposes where the settlers put up a one room log building.
“Oluf Homstad gave an acre of land for the first school in the Jordon area. It was convenient for the Eliason family. Most of the pupils brought their lunches in five or ten-pound pails, but I went home for lunch. One noon Uncle Oluf made me walk across the new bridge he was working on. The structure was swinging and sawing above the water and I had to balance as well as I could on the slippery planking for there were no handrails. (Emma Elisason)
In 1893, the school was organized enough to have a small library worth $67, furniture at valued at $12, and a female teacher earning $45 a month. Four boys and a girl enrolled. Only one pupil was advanced, reading in the fourth reader; the rest were in the second. Despite the fact that the students did 10 daily recitations, at the end of the year the new superintendent, Professor R. H. Van Horn, was not impressed. He noted in the 1893 County Superintendent’s Annual Report that since there was “a low standard of teacher’s examinations, not a few person have gotten into the profession who are not qualified.”
Anna S. Ward Thrall, Pioneer Teacher
In the spring of 1894, Anna S. Ward (1867-1960) came to teach at the Jordan school. She was 27 years old at the time and an experienced teacher, having taught at Olney Creek in 1893. Like many other female teachers of her time, she was unmarried and most likely lived with a local family, as there was no teacherage at the log school.
Ward's training is unknown, but to get a Snohomish County teaching certification, teachers had to attend a county teacher institute. She taught at Jordan in the fall of 1894 and the spring of 1895. When she married Charlie Thrall a little later on, her teaching at Jordan ended.
Jordan School Grows
The community of Jordan grew over the next few years, and soon had a post office, a church, and store. The log schoolhouse was replaced by a frame structure. When the population of pupils increased to a total of 32 boys and 15 girls in 1909, the school board hired two teachers. One of the teachers was male, earning $65.50 a month, $2.50 more than his female counterpart. The 1910 Annual Statistical Report from the superintendent of Snohomish County valued the new school at $1,500, with a seating capacity of 36. The furniture inside had a value of $450, a sign that the community cared about its school. The school year totaled 152 days. The 1910 census of children in the district stated that all 48 were enrolled at the school, but overcrowding may not have been an issue, as an average of only 27 children attended regularly. Four years later, enrollment reached 58, and in 1917 another room was added to the schoolhouse.
In 1923, Jordan School District No. 1 was consolidated with the Arlington School District. The schoolhouse was closed for good in 1927, and all the pupils were transported to the Arlington Schools, miles away. The Jordan Valley school building has since been taken down.
