BISMARCK – A consolidated school has been listed in the North Dakota State Historic Sites Registry by the North Dakota Historical Board, according to State Historical Society of North Dakota information.

Nominations are coordinated by the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Department of the State Historical Society of N.D.

Wabek Consolidated School is located about 4 miles south of Plaza in Mountrail County. It was established in 1917 when two one-room schoolhouses were moved together and physically connected. The consolidation accommodated more students and expanded educational opportunities by bringing in a second teacher. In the 1930s, this school served more than 100 students, offered high school courses, and had a grass ballfield and its own baseball team.

As a large building with 2 acres of land, the school also hosted many social events, including a speech by Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1920. Frazier traveled by airplane, the first flight of a governor during a political campaign in the U.S., according to news articles at the time. Today, this physically consolidated school is one of a few remaining in the state.

The State Historic Sites Registry’s documentation process for listing demonstrates that the resource is significant in some aspect of the state’s history. Listing in the State Registry does not prevent owners from altering their property, restrict the use or sale of the property or establish times requiring that the property must be open to the public. Entry into the State Historic Sites Registry does give a property prestige and requires the state and political subdivisions to cooperate with the director of the SHSND in safeguarding these sites.