Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa)
historic building located northwest of West Burlington in rural Des Moines County, Iowa, United States
Prairie Grove School is a historic building located northwest of West Burlington in rural Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. This was the third school building for Prairie Grove. The first was a log structure known as Cockayne School and was located in what is now the cemetery. The second school building was a red brick structure located on the same property, acquired in 1849, as the subject building. It was replaced by the present stone structure in 1879. Surplus money from the teacher's fund and the sale of the old building provided the funds for construction. The stone was quarried locally. A wood-frame addition was built onto the front of the building in 1924 by Arch McCormick. The cupola and bell were added at the same time. In 1874 the school had 58 students and by 1936 that number was reduced to 10.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa)” as historic building located northwest of West Burlington in rural Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as historic building located northwest of West Burlington in rural Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q105555713. Authority coordinates are 40.880, -91.249. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1879, 1924 and 1874.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa) primary sources, Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa) archive and Prairie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa)”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Prairie Grove School (Des Moines County, Iowa)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.