The Wellman Heritage Society recently received at $50,000 gift to be used for repairs and upkeep of the one-room Smith Creek country school, which is located at the Wellman Heritage Park on 7th Avenue. The gift comes from Julie Foster Van Camp of Los Alamos, New Mexico, whose father, Dr. Morgan Foster, and uncles attended the school. Van Camp’s grandmother, Hila Jones Foster, also taught at Smith Creek.

The Wellman Heritage Society was formed in 1985 thanks to the Smith Creek country school, as the organization’s first major project was moving the school to Heritage Park in 1986. The school had previously been located in Lime Creek township, about five miles southwest of Wellman.

Sue Foster Kempf was a founding member of the Wellman Heritage Society and said the Smith Creek Country School has been an important project for her, as she was once educated at the school, as was her father.

“Preserving history is always important,” Kempf said. “If you don’t know where you’ve been, it’s hard to see where you’re going… It’s important to give young people an opportunity to learn about their past and the history of their community.”

Kempf said that, before the school was moved, it had been used for hay storage and was in “bad shape,” but a fundraising campaign in the 1980s raised $10,000, which helped fund the move and restoration of the schoolhouse to its original condition.

The Smith Creek country school was built in 1911 and was used as a one-room schoolhouse until 1957, when the district merged with Mid-Prairie Community School District.

Kempf said the first major undertaking that will use a portion of the $50,000 will be repairing the schoolhouse’s roof or putting in a new roof all together.

“I am so thrilled that we’ve received this gift,” Kempf said. “It will help us keep this history alive for future generations, so they can learn and see how life used to be in this community.”