Reading, writing, arithmetic, restoration: How a second life was given to the Rhoda 71 schoolhouse

Reading, writing, arithmetic, restoration: How a second life was given to the Rhoda 71 schoolhouse

RHODA TOWNSHIP, S.D. — The flag flies high in front of the Rhoda 71 schoolhouse in Rhoda Township, in southern South Dakota's Charles Mix County. The building looks the same as it did in its prime when it served as the country school from the early 1900s until 1967. But it didn’t always look this nice. After its closure, it was used for township meetings for a while, but then the building began to fall apart. The siding was destroyed, a foundat…