Pam Meyers on the History of Mound Westonka Schools
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Program for June 8th was presented by Pamela Meyers of the Westonka Historical Society. Pam is the former superintendent of the Westonka District, and she presented a portion of the history of that district. Initially, the district was comprised of a number of one-room grade schools spread all over the western part of Hennepin County. The original Mound High School opened in 1917, and was the only one west of Excelsior in southwestern Hennepin County.
Pam has recently written a book about the people of the district. She interviewed over 100 former students who attended the high school from 1920 through 2000. Her talk to us was interspersed with excerpts from those students' comments as recorded in her book. Some students came to high school by train prior to WWII (fare one way 17 cents). Most of the townships had their own one-room school, and some are still standing and being used as town halls or museums. The one room schools only taught grade school subjects ,so all of the students in the region had to go to Mound for high school.
Mound/Westonka has had three high school buildings. The original building burned to the ground on Labor Day in 1965 - the day before classes were to begin for the new year. The replacement school was on Commerce Boulevard in downtown Mound; it was replaced by the current new building North of town on Sunnyfield Road. (Story by Tad Shaw and Photo by Steve Frazier)
Pam has recently written a book about the people of the district. She interviewed over 100 former students who attended the high school from 1920 through 2000. Her talk to us was interspersed with excerpts from those students' comments as recorded in her book. Some students came to high school by train prior to WWII (fare one way 17 cents). Most of the townships had their own one-room school, and some are still standing and being used as town halls or museums. The one room schools only taught grade school subjects ,so all of the students in the region had to go to Mound for high school.
Mound/Westonka has had three high school buildings. The original building burned to the ground on Labor Day in 1965 - the day before classes were to begin for the new year. The replacement school was on Commerce Boulevard in downtown Mound; it was replaced by the current new building North of town on Sunnyfield Road. (Story by Tad Shaw and Photo by Steve Frazier)