Back in 1867, Abner Loomis decided the children of Pleasant Valley and nearby Bellvue needed a school. So he built a 24-by-40-foot one-room schoolhouse out of the local sandstone on his property, just below the Pleasant Valley ditch.
By 1877, 33 students attended the school, with those from Bellvue walking two miles along the ditch. In 1886, Bellvue built its own school; in 1897, the Graves family bought the land and the school from Loomis and started what is now Morning Fresh Dairy on County Road 54G.
In 1913, schools in Pleasant Valley, Bellvue, Soldier Canyon and LaPorte became the Cache La Poudre Consolidated School, on the site of the current CLP elementary and middle schools in LaPorte. The bell from Pleasant Valley School was donated to the new school and remains on the grounds today.
Pleasant Valley School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Now the Graves family plans to restore the school and has asked local historian Janice Martin to find more about it.
“I don’t expect to hear from former students, since it closed 100 years ago, but I’d love to talk to anyone who may remember stories from their grandparents or who may have memorabilia from the school, especially old photos,” Martin said.
Anyone with information about the Pleasant Valley School can contact Martin at 970-222-0518 or email [email protected].