One room schoolhouses are hard to find as most have deteriorated through the years by weather and abandonment. These one room schoolhouses dotted the country side, and were only a few miles apart, when farms were much smaller. Farm families needed schooling for their children. Without modern transportation, the schoolhouses were walking distance. District No. 39, West Walnut, stubbornly remains standing a few miles south of Northbranch.

This school district was organized in 1872, in the wee years of Jewell County. The Indian raids had ended in this area and the settlers were flocking in....