Lake Five Elementary, Lisbon District #3
Lake Five had a school house to cover a big enough area to serve enough children who needed schooling, plus the tax base to support a “free school.”
The school which resulted was Lisbon No.3 School, a log cabin building organized in 1843. The initial class ranged from ages 4 to 20. The school was in the area of the present-day roundabout, but soon a replacement school was built down on Hickory Road. Today it is gone without a trace. It was exactly three-fourths of a mile west of Highway 164 and again exactly three-fourths of a mile east of Lake Five Road, on the south side of Hickory Road.
Lisbon District #3 wasorganized in 1843. At its’ closing in 1970, Lake Five was Waukesha County’s lasttwo-room school district. The schoolhouse, which had been built about 1890, wasdestroyed by fire in 1973.
It originally included sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17and 18. Later 4, 5, 6 and parts of section 8 and the north half of section 9made up the district. There were about 25 children between the ages of 4 and 20(Editor’s note: anyone under the age of 21 was considered an infant at thetime.) in 1843. One of the earliest settlers in District #3 was AugustineGrignon, grandson of Charlesde Langlade. Other names listed on the first school register of the year1850 were McCaugh, Bowel, Tenant, Fischer, Robberts, Thompson, Foster, Palmerand Blood. These were the children of the first settlers. The first school was alog school built on the same ground that the school occupied on Highway Q nearHighway J. The first teacher was Daniel Heckkock for a term of three months.There were 13 boys and five girls. The summer term began May 15 with 27 pupilsand the teacher was Renee Ellen White.
A new school was built in 1890. Each family brought lumberto build it. The school remained a one-room school until 1961 when an additionwas constructed.
In the fall of 1970 the Lake Five Elementary School wasordered attached to the Merton School District. The western 1,300 acres of theLake Five District went to the Merton District. In March 1973, a blazecompletely destroyed the three-room schoolhouse. Arson had been suspected. Onthe following Saturday bids were to be opened for the sale of the building.
Source: The First 150 Years, Lisbon-Sussex, WaukeshaCounty, Wisconsin, produced and published by the Citizens of Lisbon- Sussexin 1986 to celebrate The Lisbon/Sussex Sesquicentennial, page 52; and the Lisbon2000 Millennium Book, by Fred H. Keller, 2000, pages 79- 80; and “Little Old Lake Five through old photos”, by Fred H. Keller, Living Sussex Sun,Posted: Oct. 27, 2009.