Mt. Gilead School

This historic one room school is the perfect location for field trips and is a fun and educational destination for kids.

Mt. Gilead School operated for over 100 years until it closed its doors in 1946. The present two story school was built in 1879. Historians believe that Mt. Gilead was the only school in the area to continuously hold classes during the Civil War.

Clay County offers a unique field trip opportunity to experience history in a one-room school. A teacher in period costume instructs the class in late 1880s style with McGuffey readers. Pupils practice penmanship and perform arithmetic problems using slates. The four-hour program accommodates up to 30 students and complements required school curriculum. This popular field trip requires advance reservations.

For a fun and informative outing for the kids, check out Mt. Gilead Mondays. The program is designed for homeschoolers who are unable to gather a large enough group to schedule a standard Mt. Gilead field trip, and for students in school districts that have shortened their week to exclude Mondays.

Each Mt. Gilead Monday will have its own historic theme, with historic interpretation, craft projects and games related to that theme. See our event calendar to see upcoming Mt. Gilead Monday events and themes. Mt. Gilead School offers programs for Scout troops. They can be scheduled after school or on the weekend. The program, which earns participants their history badge, is conducted just like our school field trip with a schoolmarm in period costume and classes conducted as they were in 1880, complete with a spelling bee.

Open by appointment!