{"nrhp_refnum":"05000071","name":"Webster Schoolhouse, Old","other_names":["Markleeville Schoolhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"135 School St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Markleeville","county":"Alpine County","state":"CA","lat":38.69437752600004,"lon":-119.78326364799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-07-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-room, one-story wood-frame schoolhouse at 135 School Street in Markleeville, Alpine County, California, built in 1882 on a hilltop overlooking the town. It is now the centerpiece of the Alpine County Museum Complex.","why_significant":"The schoolhouse is argued to be significant under Criterion A for education and social history. It is one of few surviving original wood-frame one-room schoolhouses, and it served Markleeville as a school from 1882 to 1928. It also served as the community's gathering place for dances, dramas, socials and other events.","narrative":"Perched on a hilltop above Markleeville, California, this one-room wood-frame schoolhouse was built in 1882 and taught the town's children until 1928. It has a gable roof, a square bell tower, tongue-and-groove siding, a stone foundation and a foyer added in the 1890s that served as a cloakroom. Children aged 5 to 17 studied together, and the bell also summoned volunteer firefighters. Outside school hours the building hosted dances, dramas, box socials, recitations and political fundraisers, and in a town without a church it was the main social center. After closing as a school it housed a family for many years, then fell into disrepair. The county historical society led a restoration in 1966-68, overseen by the National Association of Restoration Specialists, and the building became the featured exhibit of the Alpine County Museum Complex. It is valued as a rare intact example of the one-room schools that once dominated rural American education.","period_of_significance":"1882-1928","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Restored in 1966-68 and now used as a museum on the Alpine County Museum Complex grounds; it has been open to visitors as a period schoolroom display.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.669062-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/05000071.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000071/25541af5f7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000071/25541af5f7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"EPoelzl","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Webster_School,_Markleeville,_California.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">EPoelzl</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Webster_School,_Markleeville,_California.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858383","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Webster_Schoolhouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7085395"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alpine-county/webster-schoolhouse-old-05000071/"}