Onion Creek Middle School Main Page:Onion Creek Middle School Main Page:

Background Information: Act of Congress created Washington Territory on March 2, 1853.  Isaac Stevens was the first territorial governor; Stevens County is named for him.  Due to Hudson’s Bay Company, The Homestead Act of 1862, logging, mining, and gold strikes, many people moved to this area.  In 1875, there were 5 public schools in Stevens County; by 1893 there were 107.

-From ‘The Last Bell’ by Alpha Naff.

Our Classroom: Onion Creek Middle School classes are held in the 1917 Building.  Our school district was organized on July 12th, 1915.  The first two buildings were built in 1917 and we use one of them to this day.  Community members cleared the present day playground from the forested school grounds with the help of Mr. Sundheim.  Some of the Sundheim descendants still live in the Onion Creek community.  During construction, the school’s well was accidentally drilled on the neighboring property.  The Guertin family gave well rights and property as a gift to the new school.  Our first four teachers were Gazelle Walston, Georgia Denman, Irene Lotze and Merle Gnaggy.

Later, a teacher’s cottage was built on the grounds, long time teachers Joel and Karen Anderson were the last teachers to live in the cottage during the 1970s.  In 1981 another schoolroom was built, complete with an intimate library and greenhouse space.  At this time the cottage is used for preschool and kindergarten classes, the 1981 building houses the 1st-5th grades and the food service program while the 1917 building is home to the middle school class, grades 6-8.

Onion Creek School is one of the three remaining small schools in Stevens County, Washington.