Travelers along U.S. 285 in Nathrop regularly pass this historic schoolhouse, known as the Gas Creek School. Photo courtesy of Suzy Kelly.
The Gas Creek School is located on U.S. 285 south of Nathrop. It was in Colorado School District 20 and used from 1889-90 until the late 1950s when school districts were integrated into the towns. The school was named for the small creek bubbling up in the area. It produces a “gassy” sound thus the name Gas Creek.
The school is located on land originally donated to the Chaffee County School district by the John Donley family, ” for as long as it was needed.” After this, per the agreement, it would revert back to the Donley family.
The one-room school had eight grades. It had no electricity until the REA [Rural Electrification Association] came in 1949. The water was drawn from a well using an old-fashioned hand pump until electricity came along.
There were two outhouses in the back; one for girls and one for boys. There was a coal shed in the back for the pot-bellied wood stove, which heated the building.
The school served up to 25 students in the school at one time, spread across eight grades. “A retired teacher told me that in 1940-41, she had 15 kids including five boys in first grade. She told how the chimney came apart and filled the school with smoke. One of the boys ran home to get his dad to fix it,” recalls Kelly.
The Gas Creek school was not just a school, it was a social center, featuring Saturday night dances.
In 1958, County School Districts was divided into two districts. One district ran from the Lake County line to Centerville, and the other stretched from Centerville to Salida. It was the end of an era. All the country schools including Gas Creek, Nathrop, St. Elmo, Pine Creek, Granite, and Maxwell had to send their students to Buena Vista or Salida.
The school is now a private home.
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