Ramsey County History – Fall 1980: “Closing of Mattocks School—End of an Era in Education”

Closing of Mattocks School—End of an Era in Education
Author: Rachel A. Bonney

Reserve Township built the original Mattocks School in 1860 at the corner of Randolph and Snelling. The frame building was replaced by a limestone structure in 1871. First called Webster School, it was renamed for John Mattocks, the secretary of the St. Paul Board of Education, after the city annexed the township. It was a one-room “country school,” heated by a pot-bellied stove, with six rows of students, aged five to twenty-five sitting in desks bolted to the floor. Most had to walk at least a mile to reach Mattocks. Grades were taught separately, and lessons were recited to the teacher by one class while the others classes worked on their lessons. There was no playground equipment or kitchen. The city built a new Mattocks School at James and Macalester in 1922. The old limestone building found various uses and was taken apart and rebuilt in 1964 on the grounds of today’s Highland Park High School, where it is still utilized for classes.
PDF of Bonney article