Save The Heil School

The Heil School is one of only two two-room schools with a basement in the state of North Dakota. It was built in the late 1910s or early 1920s and operated until 1964. The Elm Township then used it as a voting place until the American Disability Act. It fell into disrepair, and the township eventually sold it to the Grant County Historical Society for $1.00.

Esther Ferderer, now deceased, was once a teacher at the school and lived directly beside the school where her son and daughter-in-law now live. She wanted to preserve the school, and back in the 1990s, she and a group of former teachers started the Heil School Rummage Sale and over time raised enough money to replace the roof, repair the leaking ceiling inside the school, and paint the outside.

Over time, the building has started to sink on the north side, and last year, an estimate to see what it would cost to repair the foundation was nearly $100,000. Other options were explored, such as just moving it to the west of where it currently stands onto a concrete pad and filling in the original basement.

The goal in mind is to refurbish the school into an educational type of museum where current students from local schools can come for field trips and experience what it was like to go to a two-room school without computers, cell phones, or even running water.

Need your help to preserve this important part of Grant County history. Any donation amount is much appreciated. Thank you!