My husband and I purchased neighboring property to the school back in 1995.  The property with the old school on it was owned by Roy and Estelle Owen.  Mr. Roy had already passed away and we met Ms Estelle at another neighbor's house.  We built our home and actually moved here in 1997. 

As our surroundings became more familiar to us and we began meeting more and more of the community we learned that this "building" neighboring us had been an old school.  Several former students were still living here and we slowly started hearing their stories. 

As our financial status improved, we inquired from Ms Estelle as to whether or not she would sell us this land with the school on it.  Mr. Roy Owen had turned it into a barn and had stored hay in it.  We learned that actually she and her husband owned a total of 66 acres that went behind the school.  She declined to sell us any land.

Several years later her health started failing but our desire to own this beautiful land right next door to us continued to grow. Especially after watching other local property owners sell off their timber and move in house trailers. 

Sadly, Ms Estelle passed away in 2004 but her children knew of our desire to own this land and offered to sell it to us.  They immediately asked what we were going to do with the old school and you could tell from their expressions they would really like to see it saved.

Within a couple of months we put a new roof on it to stave off any further deterioration.  In the spring of 2005 we hired a local carpentry crew to start tearing out what was left of the floor so we could actually go in it.  

After much discussion, the biggest priority was to see if we could straighten it.  The head carpenter,  strapped a nylon tie-down to one corner of it, pulled it with his Chevy and tied it off to an elm tree growing between the school and the water pump, and fashioned a beam out of two 2x8's and used it to prop up the other side of the building!  That's how it got straightened.  

When it was as plumb as it was going to get, he hand-poured concrete pads inside and laid down new floor joists and attached them to the existing walls.  We then put down plain tongue and groove pine boards that would serve as the only flooring. 

Because the ceiling was caving in, we used the same tongue and groove pine boards but turned them upside down because they have a groove down the middle of the board.  This appeared similar to the original ceiling which was bead board. 

A local hardware store donated a front door, a back door, and all the windows.  We had to rebuild just two of the window sills because of rot but otherwise, the original sashes were in good shape.

A former student lives two miles down the road.  The land he and his wife live on joins the land that his parents owned.  His parent's house is half rotted down but the exterior siding is the same as what is on the school.  I went down there one afternoon and tore off several pieces to replace the rotten ones on the school.  Unfortunately, the entire front wall of the school had to be totally rebuilt.  We used cedar siding  on the outside and it was fashioned just like the original siding and after it was painted, it's hard to tell that it is not the same.

The former Scott home as it looked in 1985  with Bill Lawrence standing in front.

Because we didn't know what kind of front porch it had on it and no one could tell us what it looked like, we made up our own design.

Part way through the restoration process, my husband and I discussed what we were going to do with it when it was completed.  I said I would like to give it back to the community because, as far as I'm concerned, it always belonged to the community -- a school.  Naturally, we couldn't turn it back into a school but I wanted to restore it as if it were a functioning one-room school house again.  My husband suggested it be a "Community Center" so we started telling everyone about it.  Word started spreading and pretty soon, several people started getting involved.

My husband contacted our attorney who became trustee and drew up a deed titled the "Liberty IV Community Center Corporation."  We filed for a corporation with the government, had the land surveyed, and finally recorded the survey and deed last week.  It is a not for profit corporation but we can charge a usage fee and accept donations to help pay for taxes and utilities.

I have put together a committee consisting of five people who live in the immediate area.  We have had our first meeting and we are implementing our marketing strategy. 

When the weather is decent, we want to have an open house, have the paper come back out (the first story still has not run), and hope and pray that it will be a success.

We are looking forward to the coming year.  I hope that the schools will bring kids out to see it, young couples will get married on the grounds, children can have Easter egg hunts, and families have their reunions and picnics here.  There are few community centers around here, especially ones that have access to a large outdoors. 

Tammy  Pilcher