Nearby History: Since way back in 1909, Steptoe School has served the community

The construction of the current Steptoe School began in 1908 and was completed in 1909. At 115 years old, it has been in continuous use longer than any school of its type in the state of Washington. It is located west of the Steptoe cemetery at 12 Tennessee St. in the community of Steptoe. An almost identical-looking school building in Orient, Wash., claims the same distinction, but its construction did not begin until 1909.

Several one-room schools existed in the Steptoe area but were moved and renamed, or consolidated with Steptoe, when the current school was built. In its first year of operation, two teachers — Blanche Hill and Mabel Crofut — served a total of only 11 students. By 1919, the year of Steptoe’s accreditation, the number had climbed to 35, 29 of whom were boys. At its peak in the early 1950s, the school accommodated nearly 100 students from grades 1 through 12.

In the early days of Whitman County schools, the school year lasted only four months in the fall and winter — the coldest months — when parents did not have to rely on their children for farm labor as much as they did in the spring and summer. Students had to study and work hard to get a good education in such short school years. Eventually, the school year grew to the current nine months. The class of 1912, the first graduating class at Steptoe, contained one person: Gladys Lloyd Staret. The last, in 1957, also consisted of only one person: Gelene Kinsinger.

The brick school building has two stories and originally consisted of just four rooms, two downstairs and two upstairs. In 1918 and 1919, respectively, the school installed a pressure water system and a steam plant. A large addition in 1920 doubled the size of the building to eight rooms. A gymnasium was built in the basement, where basketball games and boxing matches were held. A stage at one end allowed dramatic productions.

By 1948, however, state requirements rendered the “old gym” obsolete, so a new gym was built on the north side of the building at a cost of $75,000 (a little over $951,000 in terms of today’s purchasing power). It is still in use, and still called the “new gym.”

In 1927, the first school bus — which was nicknamed the “cracker box” — was purchased. Driven by Tim Hall, it was available only to students who lived on the outlying edges of the school district, an area of approximately 41 square miles. Students who lived too far away to walk usually rode horses, and a barn on the grounds housed them while their owners were in school.

As the school grew, the number of teachers, course offerings and extracurricular activities expanded as well. In addition to the basics, the school added athletic teams, band, orchestra, various clubs, and classes such as algebra, geometry, Latin, shorthand, typing, woodshop, home economics and bookkeeping.

When the high school closed in 1957, most of Steptoe’s older students were transferred to Colfax, although some occasionally chose to go to Oakesdale, Garfield or Palouse instead. But the Steptoe School continues to serve the Steptoe, Tennessee Flat and Cashup Flat areas, with classes ranging from preschool and transitional kindergarten to 7th and 8th grade. Students who live in Colfax whose parents want their children to attend a smaller school can take a school bus from the Baptist Church parking lot to Steptoe — a distance of some 11 miles. The student-teacher ratio hovers around 11:1, which is substantially lower than most other Washington schools.

At present, a total of 44 students are registered for the 2023-24 school year.

Meyer taught history at Washington State University for 25 years. She has been active in Whitman County Historical Society since 1992.