A BRIEF CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE MELVIN SCHOOL
1922 - The Melvin School was built in the NW1/4 of Section 13, T5S, R67W, Arapahoe County, Colorado on land donated by Hans Dransfeldt. The DeBoer brothers built the school for $4,450. The original site was at the junction of Belleview Avenue and the old Sullivan Road (now Jordan Road) in Cherry Creek State Park. The school opened in September of 1922.
1944 - Congress authorized the building of Cherry Creek Dam to protect Denver from occasional heavy flooding.
1949 - Families in the community of Melvin received condemnation papers telling them to move from the area in preparation for the building of the dam. The school was included in this area, and it closed its doors in June of 1949. The building was sold to J. Edwin Stout for $1,500. He sold it to William Minshall who had it moved to the southwest corner of the intersection of Parker Road and Quincy Avenue (Section 12, T5S, R67W).
1950 - Melvin School District No.4 was dissolved and annexed to three nearby school districts (Castlewood, Cherry Creek, and Sullivan).
1953 - After extensive remodeling, the former schoolhouse opened as the Emerald Isle Tavern on Saint Patrick's Day. Glenn Barrier managed it as Glenn's Emerald Isle Tavern until 1970.
1970 - The building was vacated when Mr. Berrier had a new tavern built to the south. It remained vacant for the following two years.
1972 - Robert Silverberg leased the one-acre site on which the building was located from Mrs. Mary Evans who had inherited it in 1961 upon the death of her father, Mr. Minshall. Mr. Silverberg's interest was in commercially developing the land. The building would probably be torn down. Because he did not have a buyer, the site remained unchanged and the building remained vacant with the exception of the weekly use of it as a meeting place for the Cherry Creek Jaycees and a Cub Scout Pack which they sponsored.
1975 - Five area residents who were interested in local history and in saving the old Melvin School incorporated and became the first Board of Directors of the Cherry Creek Valley Historical Society, Inc. They persuaded Mr. Silverberg to donate the building to the Society in trade for their moving it elsewhere and leveling the site after the moving of the building. The Society's purpose was to restore the old Melvin School and to use it as a classroom-museum-library for the study and collection of local historical information.
1976 - Cherry Creek School District offered a site on the campus of Smoky Hill High School. In addition, the District offered to pay for moving the building and building a foundation for it. The Cherry Creek Valley Historical Society agreed to be responsible for restoring the old schoolhouse. Because of the school district's generous commitments and because the building was moved onto school district property, the Cherry Creek Valley Historical Society donated the building to the Cherry Creek School District. It was moved on December 14, 1976.
1977-1981 - With the help of the community, the school district, and the historical society, the Melvin School was restored. The exterior was authentically restored as was one classroom. The second classroom, the one which originally had a stage, was adaptively restored into a museum and a library. A plaque which honors those who helped in the restoration has been engraved with the slogan: "Restored by the Community - For the Community."
1982 - The restored Melvin School was dedicated as the Melvin Schoolhouse Museum-Library.
1984 - The Melvin School was put on the National Register of Historic Places.
1988 - The City of Aurora honored the Melvin School as Aurora Historic Landmark #1.
2002 - On September 28, 2002 the Cherry Creek Valley Historical Society hosted an 80th Anniversary celebration of the opening of the Melvin School in September of 1922. Former Melvin students were the honored guests.
