The town of Fredericksburg is located in the northwest part of Fredericksburg Township, and was so named in honor of the first permanent settler, Frederick PADDEN, who located there in September 1854. Shortly after Mr PADDEN located, other families, most of whom came from Ohio and Illinois, together with some from New York State, took up land in this vicinity. Mr PADDEN was an optimistic, breezy sort of man, who possessed the necessary qualifications for leadership and because of that fact took a prominent place in the affairs of the settlement.
The first school in Fredericksburg was held during the summer of 1857, in a rude pole shanty that had been erected by Edwin CAIN. Miss Anna BISHOP was the teacher. It is not clear just what was done concerning school facilities from that session held in the summer of 1857, until about 1860. It was in the last mentioned year that a Presbyterian mission was established in the town and a building for purposes of worship erected. The congregation, however, was unable to keep up the expenses connected with the church services, so sold the building to the school directors. Classes were held in this schoolhouse from 1860 - 1864, when it caught fire and burned to the ground. A two room frame building was then erected, in 1865, by Frederick PADDEN, costing the community about $1,000. This schoolhouse served not only for school purposes, but political meetings were held there and church services as well. In the following year, 1865, the school was graded and opened that fall under the direction of Miss Nan M. WARREN.
The schoolhouse built by PADDEN in 1865, was adequate for about twenty years, but by the end of that period it became increasingly evident that it would no longer be large enough to accomodate the growing enrollment, and so in 1892, a brick structure was erected approximately on the site of the present building [ie. 1939].
Just when the first high school work was given, cannot be reliably reported, but some old term records found in a box in the attic of the schoolhouse, show that at least some secondary courses were offered by 1886, followed by a two year course and later a three year course. By 1911, classes had grown to such an extent that an addition was built on the northwest side of the building, and at that time a complete four year course was made available.
In 1924, in spite of the fact that the addition had so recently been built, the schoolhouse was torn down and a complete new plant erected. This brick building has very satisfactory class rooms and the equipment is excellent. The grounds cover a city block and have been filled and seeded until the whole presents a fine appearance.
SOURCES:
History of Education in Chickasaw County Iowa, by Vane A. Pattison
August 1939; synopsis of pages 94 – 100
(This material was researched and compiled by the author as part of the requirements for his Master’s Degree in Education, at the State University of Iowa. The additional sources, below, are cited on the pages of his manuscript, detailing his sources used.)
History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties Iowa
by W.E. Alexander, published 1883
pages 248
History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties
by Robert Herd Fairbairn, published 1919;
pages 300, 301
History of Fredericksburg and Vicinity
by W. S. Pitts
page 91, 206, 218
The New Hampton Tribune, 18 Aug 1938
Interview with H.S. Kerssen, Mayor of Fredericksburg (1939)
Interview with H.S. Kerssen, President of the Fredericksburg School Board (1939)
