The need for educating local children was first publicly expressed in 1884 when St. Mary's Catholic Church Pastor Rev. Martin Schmitt, O.S.B., appealed to Medora residents to establish a school.Classes were begun in a cantonment building west of the Little Missouri River in July 1884 with Dan Williams instructing. The first classes in Medora opened on December 15, 1884, in St. Mary's Catholic Church, with a Miss Finger as teacher. Madame de Vallombrosa, wife of the Marquis de Mores, paid the salary of the teacher.A more permanent school began in the Medora Hall in 1885. The de Mores School building was completed in 1916, housing grades 1-12. The last high school graduating class was 1961. That building was replaced with the present school, which was completed in 1986.The first eighth grade diploma was awarded in 1902. The Billings County Superintendent of Schools oversaw as many as 18 school districts from 1902 until 1966 when the unified Billings County School District was formed.At one time, there were as many as 50 one-room schools providing education to the youth of Billings County. Teachers taught grades 1-8 in the country schools. (Marker Number 18.)
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