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By 1868, with school being held on the first floor of a gambling hall and saloon, townspeople started to raise money to build a new schoolhouse. A bond issue passed in 1869, and the town completed the 240-student building in 1870. This granite schoolhouse was only the second permanent school in Colorado. Once the school opened, enrollment increased dramatically and by 1871, the primary school was so large that it was transferred to the school room at the Episcopal Church. In 1901, when Clark Grade School opened, the old school became the high school and remained in use until 1966. The school is now home to the Gilpin History Museum.
