GOLD CREEK — As schools across Montana reach the end of their year, it’s a much more significant moment for one rural school in Powell County, which will soon be closing its doors for the final time.

This classroom — the original Gold Creek School — hosted older students once it was combined with the Pioneer Wallace School.

For more than 100 years, if you entered a building on the south side of the small community of Gold Creek, you’d hear the sounds of kids in school. But since 2022, that’s all changed: The last of the students are gone, and now the building is quiet.

“It's very odd, it feels empty and almost without a personality – that part's kind of gone,” said Linda Hogan, clerk of the Gold Creek School District.

(Watch the video for a look inside the Gold Creek School.)

Hogan has been connected with the school for about 35 years, as a paraeducator, clerk and trustee. For the last few years, she’s been the district’s only employee – and now, she’ll be its last employee.

“It was an emotional moment, and a very sad one,” she said.

The two-room Gold Creek School served students from kindergarten to sixth grade. Enrollment had been up and down over the years; Hogan said she’d seen as many as 20 and – about 15 years ago – as few as one. The school finished the 2022 school year with seven students. The next year, it didn’t reopen.

“The teacher left, she moved to Alaska with her husband,” Hogan said. “And then the families just decided to take their children elsewhere.”

This calendar, on a teacher's desk, marks the last time Gold Creek School was actively operating: the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

The board of trustees took the Gold Creek School District into “non-operational” status. After three years in that status, state law requires the district close for good.

The community will now become part of the neighboring Garrison School District – which will also take over the Gold Creek district’s property, from the building itself to the books to the bus.

“I think it takes away part of our identity as a community,” said Hogan.

The small community of Gold Creek, which traces its history back to before Montana was a state — or even a territory.

Gold Creek’s history dates back to before Montana was a state, or even a territory. It’s considered the site of one of Montana’s first gold discoveries. In 1883, the ceremonial final spike in the Northern Pacific Railway was driven nearby. Over the years, the community was closely tied to agriculture.

The school has gone through a lot of change too. Originally, the two rooms were separate schools, miles apart. They were brought together and connected about 100 years ago.

(Watch the video to learn more about the history of the Gold Creek School building.)

Hogan believes, despite the challenges of a small school, Gold Creek students got a lot of out of their time here.

“I thought it was wonderful; I loved it,” she said. “The kids really learned from each other, they could interact on the playground and at functions. I just thought it was a great way to have a school. I thought they learned a lot from it.”

But Gold Creek School’s links to education might not be over. Kerry Glisson, Powell County superintendent of schools, told MTN the Garrison district is looking at turning the building into a “teacherage” – a residence for a teacher, which could be key in attracting someone to take a job in an area where there aren’t a lot of rentals available.

“That’s my preference,” Hogan said. “There's such a history in the building that it would be nice that if it could stay connected to education.”

Photos of Gold Creek School students from the 80s, on display at the school ahead of its final closure.

There will be one more formal farewell to the school. On June 14, the district is hosting some of the people who attended the school or worked there for a final celebration.

“I think we've got about 60 people coming,” said Hogan. “We’re going to hire the food out and just try to enjoy it – say farewell.”

The official last day of the Gold Creek district will be June 30. The school building and the rest of the district’s property will officially become part of the Garrison School District on July 1.