© Mark Ollig
The Winsted Holy Trinity elementary grade school building, constructed in 1907 for $30,000, was torn down in 2010.
The two-story brick building was dedicated in 1908 and originally served as both a school and a home for the Franciscan nuns who taught there.
One side of the building was the convent, and the other side had the grade school classrooms.
The convent area contained a first-floor chapel, living room, and guest reception area, while the second floor housed bedrooms and a study.
The lower level of the building included a kitchen, dining room, and a bathroom with two tubs.
Until 1953, when Melinda Kappel, the first lay teacher, was hired, nuns and priests taught at the school.
In 1957, a new convent was built north of the grade school.
In 1958, the area of the grade school the nuns had occupied was converted into extra classrooms.
An underground tunnel connecting the grade school and the high school was constructed in 1965.
I attended school there from the first through the eighth grade, but as the years (and decades) passed, I lost contact with many of my classmates.
Some stayed in Winsted or traveled to other areas of Minnesota, while others moved out of state or, sadly, passed away.
The new elementary school, built nearby, opened in November 2006.
On June 26, 2010, I went to see the empty grade school building one last time before it was demolished.
I brought along my camera and took several photos, many of which I shared on Facebook.
Among the outdoor photos was one of the school’s southeast corner, where the 1907 cornerstone had been removed, leaving a hole and scattering dozens of red-orange “Lake Mary bricks” on the ground.
Several older buildings in downtown Winsted, including City Hall (built in 1895), used the red-orange bricks from the nearby Lake Mary brickyard, which operated from 1882 to 1917.
Upon seeing the photos posted on Facebook, former classmates began reminiscing and sharing their memories of the old grade school.
I have clear memories of my first-grade classroom located on the northeast side of the first floor of the school.
Sister Mary Cyril (Order of St. Francis) led our homeroom class.
The homeroom held around 50 students, and we sat in rows of wooden desks attached to wooden runners.
Across the hallway was the 8th-grade homeroom.
On Facebook, we shared memories of classes and our teachers, most of whom were nuns.
Many recalled the daily rituals of school life: reciting the Pledge of Allegiance after lunch, hanging our coats and gym bags on our assigned hooks in the cloakroom, the chalkboards and cleaning the chalk erasers by clapping them together outside.
We shared stories of pranks that earned a trip to the principal’s office, and of the fun we had during recess.
The 103-year-old grade school building was torn down on July 9, 2010.
The next day, I returned to Winsted to photograph what was left after the wrecking ball had demolished most of the building.
Not much remained except for the stone foundation with a few internal walls, and piles of rubble and red-orange bricks that were scattered about the area.
While standing near the foundation debris, I saw the now exposed underground tunnel entrance going east to connect with the high school.
I recall teachers instructing us to “get into single-file and walk slowly” through the tunnel to the high school cafeteria for lunch, pep rallies, or to take shelter in during tornado warnings and drills.
At the point where the demolished tunnel walkway interconnected with the high school, I observed the entrance was now sealed with concrete blocks.
“It looks very strange to see our grade school gone,” wrote a former classmate under one photo.
“Wish I could get a brick or two,” was mentioned many times.
While surveying the old grade school’s ruins, something immediately caught my attention in the northwest corner of the school’s foundation: it was exposed among the broken bricks, pieces of plaster, and busted wood laths.
I aimed, zoomed in my camera lens, and photographed a dusty and slightly damaged plastic cover case from a vinyl record player.
The case still contained the paper jacket from a children’s 33-rpm LP vinyl record with the words, “Holt Music Demonstration Record—Grades K-6.”
The record jacket showed a picture of seven singing school children with the words “Music!” written five times in bold colors above them.
A reverse image search on Google revealed that the record was released in 1984. It featured 11 songs, was published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc., and was manufactured by CBS Records in New York City.
The sight of the paper song jacket with the music it once held resting upon the remnants of my old school, undoubtedly sung by students decades ago, stirred feelings of melancholy.
As I stood there alone during that hot afternoon, it was eerily quiet.
I glanced over at the present elementary school, where a new generation of students are creating memories, they will someday look back on.
Holy Trinity School uploaded a 10-minute YouTube video at bit.ly/3RL8hsr of the demolition, which begins with a prayer led by Father Tony Hesse.
And yes, I saved a brick.
