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OPINION
Well, the school year is coming to an end in a few weeks. As School District 8 looks to add another elementary school, I thought I would mention an old school. The town of Fountain got its first school, a one-room building, like many that served rural communities in the mid 1870’s. El Paso County was divided into a number of districts to manage school operations. Fountain was designated District 8 and included slightly more than a half dozen one-room schools. The first school, where the basket ball courts are on the corner behind Aragon today, was replaced in the early 1880’s by a tow-room school. That school was damaged in the 1888 explosion. When repaired it was expanded to three rooms. In 1903 a new building replaced the much modified old building. The new building became the high school, with grades 8 – 12. A new, large bell was ordered for the school’s bell tower. Cast on October 17, 1904, the bell arrived in Fountain early in 1905, and was placed in the waiting structure. In the 1920’s the number of students had grown to where a much larger building was needed. A big brick, two-story building was planned on the corner of Missouri and Main Street. A few years later a new, larger high school was built on Main. The old building then became the grade school and the elderly, now condemned building was torn down. As it developed, a number of changes came to the old high school on Main Street. It was replaced by the new high school on Santa Fe, and the old building designated Fountain Junior High School. The old building was replaced by what is now Lorraine Elementary. The old bell was placed on a plinth on the corner of Main and Missouri at some point – no one seems to remember just when. In 1976 the old building high school was torn down, replaced by a modern one-story building that has become Aragon Middle School and is now Aragon Elementary. The bell was cleaned up, repaired (it had a bit of a crack) and hangs in the school’s library. Not many people notice the bell, but it remains a silent symbol of all the children who have been educated here in Fountain. Several librarians have worked under it and occasionally point out its history and importance. Even I still like to drop in and have a look at it. Years ago, before it was put up there, we rigged up a clapper, just to hear its sound. As I remember, it had a good, clear ring, one you probably could hear for miles. |
