News

Monument pays tribute to Bancroft School

By CHERYLL WARREN Argus-Press Staff Writer

Saturday, July 19, 2008 10:01 PM EDT

Argus-Press Photo by Cheryll Warren Shown after a monument to the former Bancroft School was erected are, from the left, Melissa Marsh and Michael Marsh, both of Marsh Monument; Pastor Michael McDonald of Bancroft Congregational Church; Dallas Might of Marsh Monument; and Sally Labadie, a church trustee.

BANCROFT - The building may be gone, but the village will have a permanent reminder of the historic structure that once served as the Bancroft School and eventually the Bancroft Masonic Temple.

The building was demolished last summer to make way for a parking lot for the Bancroft Congregational Church.

Thanks to a donation of etching and labor by Marsh Monument of Durand, and a donation of the monument itself by an anonymous church member, a permanent marker now identifies the site.

“The plan is to eventually put the (school) bell beside the monument, and deed this corner to the village,” said Pastor Michael McDonald.

The bell was saved during the demolition of the structure.

The building stood at the corner of Main and Maple streets from 1808 to 2007.

The school housed kindergarten through 12th grade from 1888 to 1940, and had 321 graduates, according to Sally Labadie, trustee of Bancroft Congregational Church. It was used as an elementary school from 1940 to 1961, and as the Bancroft Masonic Lodge until 2006, she added.

She said books, maps and even a few empty milk cartons found upstairs in the building were given to the Bancroft Historical Society.

The building was donated to the church by the Bancroft Masons.

McDonald said the building was in need of extensive repairs before it was demolished.

“There are a lot of memories tied to this building,” Labadie said. “This marker will preserve some memories for the residents and former students. We wanted to do something for them.”

- Contact Cheryll Warren at 725-5136 extension 225 or argusnews@charterinternet.com.

Comment on this Story

Robert Upper wrote on Jul 22, 2008 4:22 PM:

" I attended this school in 1951 - 1955. I have a lot of childhood memories of this building. My dad, Kenneth Upper was a Mason and did a lot of the work boarding the windows when it was no longer in use. I would have liked to have had a brick from the bldg. as a memory of it.

Robert Upper
P.O. Box 594
Marion, TX 78124
upprintx1@aol.com "