Cross school building served many purposes
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Cross School District #52 existed from 1873-1946. It originally was known as Rock School.
The building still is in existence today, although it has been modified.
The brick building was located two miles west of Lincolnville and one-half south on the east side of Cedar Street Road (now Timber Road).
Along with Clark District #38, Beauty of the West District #61, and Smith District #98, it served the Bohemian children of the Pilsen community.
Cross Country School was built even before there was a church. Area Catholics met alternately for Mass in Cross and Beauty of the West until a church was built at Pilsen in 1888.
Edmund Steiner, 89, of rural Lincolnville, said his grandparents were married at Cross school.
Bob Navrat of Marion attended all eight elementary grades at Cross, beginning in 1935. He said the school room had a six-inch-high stage at one end. The building was heated with a diesel or coal oil stove. It had a corner porch and entrance.
The school bell was rung a half hour before school started, reminding area students it was time for them to start for school.
Other family names of people in the area included Franta, Silhan, Bernhardt, and Winter.
During Bob's first years, the teacher, Edna Steffek of Hope, lived with his family one-fourth mile north of the school.
Bob remembers walking hand in hand with her across the open field to the school. Miss Steffek also taught Bob's brothers, Ed and Marion, and became a lifelong friend.
Ed's two other teachers were Rose Ann Munsterman of Antelope and a Mrs. Hane from east of Lincolnville. His eighth grade graduation was in 1944.
After the school closed in 1946, the bricks and belfry were removed and the building was moved to Lincolnville, where it underwent several changes and served as the Gilbert/Poppe American Legion Post.
The post was named after Reuben Gilbert, the first Marion County soldier to lose his life in World War I, and Orville Poppe, who was killed in World War II.
Lloyd Pagenkopf of Lincolnville remembers when the building was moved into town. It was shortly after he had returned from serving in World War II.
He helped install the present slate siding. The stage was dropped to floor level. Later, an addition was attached to the back and a kitchen and bathroom installed.
The building was rented out for family gatherings and served as a meeting place for Lincolnville City Council, Lincolnville Wide Awake 4-H Club, Scouts, and other groups.
Membership in the Legion post gradually declined and the Lincolnville Community Building provided an alternate meeting site, resulting in maintenance costs exceeding income. K&F Distributors purchased the building in 1993 and used it for storage.
In the fall of 1998, Lloyd Davies purchased the building to launch his new business, Great Plains Computers and Networking.
Martin and Kimbra Kroupa purchased it in 2001 after Davies moved his business to Marion.
Kimbra opened Kidsville Playschool in 2002. It was a licensed group day-care facility conducted as a preschool.
The building sits empty this fall, its future uncertain. Kimbra said the implementation of the four-year-old at-risk preschool program at Centre Elementary School resulted in a lack of children in need of her services.
When Navrat recently made a trip to Lincolnville to view the former school building, he was sure it is half its original size. But Pagenkopf contends it is the complete building.
One thing is for sure: the memories made in that school are unforgettable.
Hopefully, the building will continue to serve a purpose in the future.
