GARNET SCHOOL
Education a Rarity in Mining Towns

You'll still find one-room schoolhouses scattered across Montana's rural landscape, but rarely in early mining towns. Unlike the male-dominated Montana mining towns of Virginia City or Bannack, Garnet always attracted families with children. This privately owned schoolhouse dates to 1938, when it replaced an earlier school built in 1897 a short distance away. The doubling of gold prices in 1934 infused enough hope in prospectors to relocate families and eventually open a new school during this second, short boom.


The Next Little Cuss That Hollars...
In 1900, the schoolmistress of Garnet's first school had trouble disciplining the unruly, older boys. The trustees responded with a new ruling, the subject of this poem by an unknown Garnet versifier:

There's a school up here at Garnet
That is tough
The pupils are bright as dollars
But they're rough

The teacher is a lady
That is right
She calls them all her babies
But they fight

She tries to teach good manners
All she can
But the trustees they have tried
Another plan

The have notified the scholars
Of the rule
That the next little cuss that hollars
Out in school

Must pack his little turkey
And must get right out of school
For the trustees are determined
That they must obey the rule.

Other Stories
Gold In The Garnets
Chinese Presence
Town of Garnet Named in 1897
Family Living in a Gold Mining Town?
Riches Fade
Saving Garnet Ghost Town
Kelly's Saloon
J. K. Wells Hotel
Davey's General Store
Ole's Tavern
Dahl Cabin
Blacksmith Shop
Jail
Miners Union Hall
Adams House
Honeymoon Cabin
Warren Park
Highlights from interview with Mary Jane Morin, June 11, 1999
Letter from Hills Bros. Coffee to Mrs. Adams
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Copyright © 2000, Garnet Preservation Association and Bureau of Land Management of Montana