Lone Tree School Porch. This building was constructed in 1922.
Courtesy of the Larkspur Historical Society.

Photo of the first Lone Tree School (1872-1922).
Courtesy of the Larkspur Historical Society

Lone Tree School and surrounding landscape. Douglas County History Research Center #94039

.....Lone Tree School (District 17) sits just off Highway 105, 3 miles south of Wolfensberger Road, across from the entrance to Perry Pines Subdivision. This is the second Lone Tree School, built in 1922 when the student population outgrew an older building that was constructed in 1872.

.....The first Lone Tree School (1872-1922) was built by Newton S. Grout, who also designed nearby St. Phillip in the Field Episcopal Church. It was the second school in the West Plum Creek Valley Area (after Glen Grove) and sat between Glen Grove and Oaklands in the school district map. The building sat 30 feet to the northwest of its successor, and included a barn for horses and a privy. The student population of Lone Tree School during the later usage of the first building varied between 12 and 17 pupils. When the second school was constructed, the first building was moved to the Herb Stewart Ranch, and was used as an icehouse. No further information is known about it.

.....The second Lone Tree School still stands in its original location. Built in 1922 by Newton Grout's son Leo and son-in-law Herb Stewart, the building is on the State Register of Historic Places. The building features ship lap siding, wood shingles under the tin roof, double hung windows, a porch hardwood floors, lath and plaster walls and a cement foundation. In 1922 when the school was built there was a small library in the building as well as a barn and an outhouse on the grounds. Behind the porch was a small anteroom for hanging coats and storing lunchpails.

.....Box socials were held in 1929, and a new piano was purchased with the $107 that was raised. Electricity was installed in the building after rural electrification in 1945/46. School met in this building from September to May, from 9am to 4pm Monday through Thursday and 9am to 3 pm on Friday. In 1943 there were 10 students at Lone Tree School, in 1944 there were only 4 and after that, no one could remember the school being open. The building experienced limited use after 1946, and the district was officially closed in 1953. Students were probably sent to Sedalia.