school districts, chiefly on account
of topography, while in Dane County, Wisconsin, more neighborhood areas
are determined primarily by the school district than by any one
factor.[40] Formerly the district school-house was quite frequently
used for Sunday school or preaching services; spelling-bees and other
entertainments were held from time to time; and political meetings and
elections were commonly held there.

Although the district school is still a neighborhood social center in
many sections, its decadence commenced at the close of the nineteenth
century, the change depending upon the general progress or isolation of
the community, particularly as affected by transportation. Several
factors have combined to make the district school unsatisfactory to the
rural community of to-day. In the older parts of the country the
population has so decreased that in many districts the maintenance of a
school has become exceedingly expensive, it is difficult to secure
competent teachers, and there are too few pupils to make the school
attractive. The better educational advantages of town and city schools
have caused much dissatisfaction upon the part of the better class of
farmers who wish their children to have the best possible start in life,
and many of those who can afford to do so have "moved to town" to
educate their children, thus making a bad matter worse for the district
school. As long as roads were poor the district school was the only one
possible, but with better roads, automobiles and trolleys, the
consolidation of schools has proceeded rapidly in the past decade,
particularly in the prairie states.

A modern school cannot be maintained at every other crossroads. Improved
roads naturally radiate from the village center and hence it is the
logical point for a consolidated school or high school. There are
localities in isolated regions where it might be desirable to establish
consolidated schools in the open country, but in most cases where there
is a natural village center, the school should be located there and the
school laws should make possible the organization of the consolidated
school district regardless of township or county lines. Indeed
legislation has already been enacted to this end in several states and
forms one of the most important movements for strengthening the rural
community. Here and there are to be found consolidated schools which
have been placed in the open country at the center of a townshi