The Johnson Schoolhouse
 | Author:
Victor Sample, Preserve Broadwater History
Vic Sample: MT43 News Treasurer |
Victor Sample
Preserve Broadwater History
The Johnson Schoolhouse is one of Broadwater County’s historic school buildings. The building is located on the west side of Hwy 284 near the turn off to Confederate Gulch. The schoolhouse is on private property and is currently owned by Diane and Michael Brown.
The Johnson Schoolhouse was the second school building to serve the Confederate Gulch area residents. The first school was the Confederate School located further up Confederate Gulch. When Diamond City and placer mining in Confederate Gulch waned, ranching and farming became the dominant industry.
The residents of the area wanted to have a newer schoolhouse in a more convenient location. The new schoolhouse was built in 1905 and was named the Johnson School in honor of Reuben Johnson and Ann Johnson who founded the new Johnson School District.
The Johnson School served the area for over 40 years until Broadwater County consolidated many of the local area school districts into the Townsend School District. The last class was taught at the Johnson School in 1946.
The building continued to be used for many years as a community gathering place hosting meetings and social events. It was used as a polling place for elections.
However, the building eventually fell into disrepair and has deteriorated greatly.
Preserve Montana and Preserve Broadwater History, both 501(c3) nonprofit organizations, are evaluating the building to determine the current state of the building and to get an estimate on restoring the building. Diane and Michael Brown have generously offered to donate the historic building to Preserve Broadwater History.
On March 28 members of Preserve Montana and Preserve Broadwater History will visit the building to evaluate the condition of the building and to determine what will need to be done to restore it to public use.
On March 29 a full-day workshop will be held. The workshop is about restoring historic buildings focusing on the Johnson Schoolhouse. In addition to a discussion of what needs to be done, we will discuss potential uses of the building and resources for doing the restoration project.
Everyone is invited to attend the workshop. Lunch will be provided. The location of the workshop is still to be determined; but, if you are interested in learning about the Johnson Schoolhouse restoration please let Vic Sample know so we can get an estimate of the number of people attending. You can call at 406-422-9425 or email victorsample@gmail.com
To learn more about the Johnson Schoolhouse and Preserve Broadwater History visit our website at:https://preservebroadwaterhistory.org
To learn more about Preserve Montana visit the Preserve Montana website at:https://preservemontana.org
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PhotoCredit: See Captions
Image 1 Caption: A drawing of the Johnson Schoolhouse by Ruth Christie. Ruth was the last teacher at the Johnson Schoolhouse and a longtime resident of Broadwater County.
Photo Provided
Image 2 Caption: Gary Richtmyer and Vic Sample at the Johnson Schoolhouse in April 2021 owned by Diane and Michael Brown.
Photo Credit: Chris Wright
