Oneota Town School

Oneota Town School. (Image: Duluth Public Library)

4300 Oneota Street | Architect: Unknown | Built: 1857 | Lost: Unknown

The town of Oneota was just a year old when its citizens built their first schoolhouse to teach the children of the founding Merritt, Ely, and Wheeler families. The one-room wood frame building (above, date unknown) was built with lumber milled by Henry Wheeler’s sawmill, and Jerome Merritt first performed teaching duties within its walls (four of his pupils were his brothers). The small, rustic building had few windows, its door faced the bay, and historic photos indicate it may not have been painted. It had no furnace, electricity, or plumbing, but it did have a belfry. Early Oneota residents noted that the bell rang for school classes and Methodist church services, which were held in the building until 1869. The Oneota Town Council also met at the school. No records indicate when the building was demolished; the building’s site is now a greenspace within an industrial park south of Interstate 35.