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Smith
Creek School
Mound
Valley, east of Jiggs, Elko County, Nevada
Recently,
I was reading the Northeastern Nevada Historical Society's Summer 1988
Quarterly. It contained an article on "Jiggs and Mound Valley"
by Howard Hickson (available in limited supply from the Northeastern
Nevada Museum). In this article
was a photograph of the old Mound Valley school in
Jiggs. The article also made mention of Smith Creek School, east of
Jiggs (on the western pediment of the Ruby Mountains). I had never been
to it - so that was our mission. When we (my boy and I) got there, the
"foundation" was there but the building was gone. It's
difficult to see on the USGS 1994
aerial photograph but it looks like the school was still there in 1994
. So we went down to see Harry at the Jiggs Bar. He said the
school had been moved to the Ruby Shadows ranch (by their pond), just
southwest of the original location. So back we went. No one
answered the door at the ranch, but on the way out we took some photos of the
schoolhouse from their entrance road. We then stopped by the bar and
confirmed that we had the right building with Harry. Anyway, here
are some photos of this historic turn-of-the-century school building.
From here we will try and find the time period the school was in use, some old
photos, and maybe when we get back that way we will obtain permission to
see the old school a bit closer. If you wish to add more ... just
let me know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
USGS
Topographic Map of Smith Creek School (1934)
(school
location shown on upper right of map north of Smith Creek)
USGS
Topographic Map of Smith Creek School (1985)
(school
location not noted)
USGS
Aerial Photograph of Smith Creek School (1994)
(school
'visible(?)' just north of Smith Creek Road at cattle guard)
| Smith
Creek Road, looking east, on the way to see the Smith Creek
School. Ruby Mountains are just ahead. |
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| Original
site of the Smith Creek School - just north of the Smith Creek Road. |
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| Ruby
Shadows Ranch |
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| Smith
Creek School - photos taken from the entrance road (with zoom).
Smith Creek is in the trees behind the school building. The
original site of the school is just northeast of this site. The
building was probably moved sometime after 1994. |
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Northeastern Nevada Historical Society's Summer 1988
Quarterly, "Jiggs and Mound Valley"
by Howard Hickson, page 72 (available in limited supply from the Northeastern
Nevada Museum). Photo date not
known
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Some e-mail correspondence regarding
Smith Creek School History |
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 2:23 PM
Subject: Smith Creek School
Hi Dan, thanks
for getting something down on paper about the school. I'd like
to talk to you more about it later. Just a little info...the
school district served the area ranches on Smith Creek, Little and
Big Cottonwood Creeks. Buscalia, Zunino, Heguy, Riordan,
Young, Merkley and Achurra were some of the families who attended.
The school was placed on the fenceline of the Young and Riordan
ranches (Maggie Riordan married Simon Young, the families were
close). The teacher would board with a family for 6 months, then
with another. Pearl Hancock from Ruby Hill, had her first
teaching assignment at Smith Creek in 1906. She fell in love
with Dan Riordan while boarding with that family. They married
in 1909 and their children: Marie, Joe, Ellen and Donna attended the
school as well. Pearl and Dan were my husband Mike's grandparents. The
school closed in the 1930's. The children of the area continued
their schooling in Jiggs. My husband and my son, James,
both graduated from the Mound Valley school in Jiggs. Mike in
1966 (Mrs. Gruenhagen) and James in 1990 (Mrs. Turner). We
have several older school books with the Smith Creek stamp, some
of the teacher's attendance/grade books and many photos of the
school and it's students and teachers. Sam and Dee Winston
bought the Ruby Shadows Ranch (formerly the Young Ranch) around
1992. They had the school moved in an attempt to preserve it.
Their goal was to restore it and stock it with books to serve as a
community library. The building you saw was actually the 3rd Smith
Creek school built on that site through the years in an attempt of
upgrade and comfort. Talk to you later...
WE ARE ONE...
WE ARE UNITED...
WE ARE AMERICA...
REMEMBER ~ 9/11
LOVE TO ALL,
Claudia
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9/6/02
up-date: Since I wrote this page I read the 97-1 Northeastern
Nevada Historical Society Quarterly. It containes a wonderful
article by Mary Branscomb entitled "Joe Riordan of Mound
Valley". The article contains an excellent section about
the Smith Creek Schools. The Quarterly is available in limited
quantities from the Northeastern
Nevada Museum
The following
photos are taken from this article, from top to bottom, pages 40, 37,
38 and 39. The photos are all from the Joe Riordan Collection. |
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Additional Information: Northeastern
Nevada Museum
© 2001 - Elko Rose Garden Association
Recent Photos by Dan Turner, August 11, 2002
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