New Volunteer Tribute Bell unveiled at Chana School Museum

The Chana School Museum Foundation recently installed a tribute bell outside of the 1883 Chana School to honor the hundreds of community volunteers who worked on the school’s restoration project.

The cast iron bell is similar to the original bell now hanging in the Chana School Museum bell tower.

“These large school bells were once in the bell towers of most of the 225 one-room school houses located throughout Ogle County before school consolidation closed them down starting in the 1940′s and 50′s,” said Mark Herman, a volunteer with the Chana School Museum. “The large tribute bell gives visitors and students coming for school living-history field trips the opportunity to see the bell up-close. E D Etnyre & Company of Oregon painted the bell, and they also donated the custom laser-cut steel sign. Paul Steingaber of Mt. Morris did the limestone base masonry work.”

The Chana School Museum was restored and is maintained by the all-volunteer Chana School Foundation who saved the historic school from demolition 25 years ago. The building was moved from its original location in Chana, Illinois seven miles to Oregon Park East in 1998.

Then after five years of countless hours of hundreds of community volunteers, the building was totally restored to how it looked in the 1890′s and opened to the public in 2003. The Chana School Museum was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as the only two-room wooden schoolhouse in Illinois.

The Chana School Museum is located at 201 North River Road at Oregon Park East and is open for school field trips and unique events. The Oregon Ganymedes Vintage Base Ball Club plays early-rules historic baseball games on the lawn of the museum from May to September.