Yard sale raises money for historic place

DE BORGIA – While many communities in Mineral County held town wide yard sales last week, one community in the west end of the county was using their version of the event to raise money to make sure a historical landmark does not fall by the wayside.

Community members in De Borgia gathered in front of the old schoolhouse last weekend to raise money to continue to rehabilitate and maintain the structure that has stood since 1908, survived the Great Fire in 1910 and continues to be utilized by the community. And while students no longer attend classes at the facility, community members have continued to cherish a building that is listed with the National Register of Historic Places.

One community member who attended the yard sale fundraiser said the event was their primary way of raising money to continue to make improvements to the schoolhouse according to strict guidelines governing the work performed on historically recognized places.

“This is our sixth annual sale and we do pretty well and it’s our biggest fundraiser,” Sharon Kortuem said. “The money that we make goes to the maintenance and operation of our little historic school. It was built in 1908 and survived the 1910 fire. Our current project right now is to restore the carriage house. It’s the building where the kids who used to attend school here would store their horses and buggies in the winter.”

Another community member in attendance, John Dubois, was familiar with the history surrounding how the building managed to survive the conflagration that enveloped the area when, in 1910, a firestorm erupted and swept over much of Mineral County.

“Apparently, the winds changed and the fire went around it,” Dubois said. “So it was meant to be.”

Dubois also said many of the original aspects of the schoolhouse had been recovered and restored over the years including the wood stove used to heat the facility that was found in someone’s garage years ago. The original piano is also still in the building and is apparently a favorite of St. Regis High School music teacher Derek Larson.