This one-room schoolhouse was built in the town of Garo in1879. The children of gold miners, merchants, and ranchers of South Park attended classes in little schoolhouses just like this until the mid-1930s. It was moved to South Park City in 1960. Painted red with white trim, the schoolhouse stands out among other buildings in town. Typical of the schools in the mining camps and towns of the early west, it is a picturesque building with a small entryway and belfry.
All grades were taught in this one-room schoolhouse. Like the other schools in Park County, one teacher taught every class. Two of the most well-known teachers at the Garo school were Mrs. Alice McLaughlin Wonder, who taught during 1898 and 1899, and Mrs. Mayme O'Mailia, who taught during 1912 and 1913. Mrs. O'Mailia taught ten grades, including Chemistry, English, and Latin, at a salary of sixty dollars a month. Once the teacher began ringing the school bell, boys and girls hurried to meet her not to be tardy. Some children traveled long distances on foot or perhaps on a favorite horse. A distance of five miles was not uncommon. After a flurry of activity, wraps were hung, and lunch pails were put aside. With a slap of a stick by the teacher, pupils were signaled to be at their desks.
The desks are arranged in four rows. On the right side are the most ancient desks in Park County; all were handmade in Fairplay. The double decks in the center row are from the Lake George School (a small town southeast of Fairplay in Park County) and were patented in 1872. Other desks came from the 1885 schoolhouse at Hartsel. In the front of the room, behind the teacher's desk, is a large blackboard and wall map of the United States showing the Colorado Territory.
