2024 Road Trip To The West; Part VII; Driving East on U.S. Route 2; The Burnham School

We spotted this long ago abandoned (1946) one-room schoolhouse off in the distance as we drove
east on U.S. Route 2 in eastern Montana.  I don't know if there was anything nearby when the
school was active, but it is in the middle of nowhere now. My research tells me it was the 
Burnham School. (click any image to enlarge)

This post is a continuation of my 2024 road trip out to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks primarily to photograph grizzly bears and other large mammals.  However, along the way out and back, I planned my adventure to be able to stop at various places and photograph.  You can find Part I here, Part II here, Part III here, Part IV here, Part V here, Part VI here, and a post about what gear I took and why here.

Well, my time in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks photographing wildlife and enjoying the absolutely beautiful landscape is over.  Time to start the journey back to Virginia.  AS is my usual, I won't return on the same route as I drove west.  I want to return on a route over which I've never traveled to see what I may find that is interesting.

Several months ago, while planning this road trip, I contacted a lifelong friend who agreed to fly out to Bozeman to meet me and accompany me on my journey back home.  He is a retired airline pilot so he can fly for free.  Additionally, if my trip had been canceled at the last moment, he wouldn't lose any money on paid airline reservations. When I contacted him a few months ago, I told him my intention was to take U.S. Route 2, also known as "The High Line" back east as far as I could take it.  That was attractive to him as he and I have done Route 66 twice and with a couple of other lifelong friends have done several long distance road trips.  We share the same sense of exploration and travel well together.

And so we start the journey east....

We left Bozeman and drove north to pick up The High Line in Shelby, Montana.  The drive was uneventful, mainly on Interstate 15.  I don't like driving interstate highways and much prefer the secondary highways as those take me through small towns where I can see what the 'real' America looks like.  It is in those small towns that you meet the nicest people, always smiling and helpful, as well as find some very interesting things to photograph.  Typically, there are small, local restaurants where the food is excellent and prepared with a regional touch.

There are windows on the left side and front of the building, but none on the right side or back.
That is a bit strange but there must have been a reason for that.  Also, the position of the tree and
other vegetation tells me that maybe something else was built there but had been demolished.

Along our way, along Route 2 in eastern Montana, we stumbled upon this old one-room schoolhouse.  The old schoolhouse was far off in the distance right in the middle of several ranch fields.  It is one of those things you see while driving that begs to be photographed.  We stopped and spent abut 30 minutes walking around and photographing it.  I love these kinds of serendipitous finds!  Conducting a little internet research, the name of the school is the Burnham School.  There is more about the history of the school below.

I was especially interested in the architecture, the texture of the old wood as well as the school's surroundings, basically in the middle of nowhere.  I couldn't imagine going to school in a place such as this.  The building can't be much more than 25 ft. X 30 ft.  Tiny.  I suspect there weren't many children in attendance at one time so they built a small building to reduce heat loss during the harsh winters.

This side of the building, devoid of windows, appears to have the original wood clapboard siding.
It doesn't appear the windows have been covered up.  However, the back of the building looks
as though it has been modified.

On the Waymarking.com website, here, I found this about the old Burnham school:

In his book "BLUE HIGHWAYS Revisited", author Edgar I Ailor states: 

"The Burnham School was established in 1912. Charles Innman, the current owner of the school, told me the original structure burned in the early 1930s. The [current] building was moved from north of the Milk River to this location where it served as the school until 1946 when it became a granary."
Source: Blue highways revisited, 2012. (visit link)

As I mentioned, I love these kinds of finds both for photographic and historical purposes.

In my next post, we continue on U.S. Route 2.  More interesting finds.  Stay tuned.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook  

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