APS History Highlights
Coal Creek | William Smith | Crawford | Board of Education | High Schools | Where are they now?
A Brief History of Coal Creek Schoolhouse and Murphy Creek
|
The Murphy family homesteaded in Arapahoe County in 1865. One of the first schools in the Aurora area was the Coal Creek Schoolhouse, a one-room building originally located near the intersection of E. Jewell Ave. and Powhaton Mile Road. This location is about a mile from the construction site for the new APS Murphy Creek K-8 School.
The Coal Creek Schoolhouse was moved to Springhill Park, 800 Telluride St., in 1975. The current structure was built in 1922, after the original schoolhouse (built c. 1870) was destroyed in a fire. The school served a small group of children who lived on farms in the area.
Today, the Coal Creek Schoolhouse is used for historical interpretation, illustrating the use of the one-room schoolhouse in rural farm communities.
Special thanks for research done by former APS Principal John Dale.
|
The Coal Creek Schoolhouse
The name, "Murphy Creek," dates from the 19th century and is shown on an 1899 farm map. A member of the Murphy family was mayor of Aurora from 1927-1929.
|