The Pioneer Schoolhouse was built in 1880 and was in continuous use as a one-room schoolhouse until 1948.  For 68 years, the children of Ephraim and the surrounding area were educated here for grades one through eight.  The total cost of the school's construction was $658, which included the building, two coats of pain, all furnishings, and two outhouses.  Some of this cost was offset by the sale of the village's original schoolhouse, now a private residence and still located just east of the Historic Iverson House, for $35.  Around 1900 an addition was built in order to accomodate a growing student body, adding 16 feet to the north end of the building.

The subjects taught at the Pioneer School are similar to the subjects taught in elementary schools today, although the teaching methods are very different.  Textbooks and paper were in short supply, so repetition, memorization, and rote learning were essential.  Lessons might be written on the chalkboard in front of the classroom, copied down by students on their slates, committed to memory, and then repeated for the teacher. 

Students studying a lesson would be called to the front of the room, be seated at the front of the room on the "recitation bench," and then be quizzed on their knowledge.  When the reciting time was over, they would be sent back to their seats and another group of students would be called up.  This pattern would continue throughout the day with students separated into groups by both age and the subject being studied.

Students would walk to school, sometimes covering great distances.  In the winter the journey might be made easier by using skis  or sleds for transportation.  Students shared in school chores, including hauling water from the lake, cleaning the exterior of the building, and chopping and hauling wood for heat.  In the days before storm windows and good insulation, it was often a struggle to keep the school warm.  Even with heavy coats on, students would sometimes need to march around the room to the beat of a lively Sousa march on the Victrola to stay warm!

Enrollment was sometimes over sixty, quite a challenge for one instructor to manage.  Given the relative isolation of the area and the lack of experience of some of the younger teachers employed by the school, standards were remarkably high.  At the end of eighth grade, the final year of study offered at the Schoolhouse, students were required to take two days of exams and pass in all subjects before they were considered successful graduates.  Many of the students at the Pioneer School were related to one another -- brothers, sister, cousins, and even a few aunts and uncles were all in the same room together.

The construction of a new grammar school in Ephraim forced the closing of the Pioneer Schoolhouse in December of 1948.  Since it was in need of major repairs, the Village decided to dispose of the property the following spring.  Faced with the prospect of the building being demolished, Helen Sohns, the last teacher at the School, took the lead in finding a way to save the building.  She alerted others who raised the necessary funds in a very short time to purchase the building.

The forward-thinking individuals who were instrumental in the purchase of the Schoolhouse realized that other Ephraim properties might come on the market that were of significant historical importance, and that there should be a mechanism in place for saving those buildings and spaces as well.  Thus the Ephraim Historical Foundation was born in July 1949 with the mission of historical preservation, education, and cultural enrichment.