Palmer Divide Research

Gwillimville schoolhouse (now the Chamber's meeting house)

Also: Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce Community Meeting House · C.E. Building

SchoolsLiving todayEl Paso County

What we know

The Gwillimville school, dedicated June 11, 1882, moved four times: from its first site about 1.5 miles north of Highway 105 to a spot near 105; into Monument in the late 1920s or early 1930s, south of the Presbyterian Church, as a Sunday school; and here in April 1985 as the Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce office (Lavelett's 1985 letter, quoted by Carrigan; von Ahlefeldt p. 45). The Chamber moved to 166 Second Street in 2015 and later reopened this building as its community meeting house, in use in July 2023 and spring 2026 (Our Community News). Searle (2019) notes the accounts do not make clear whether this is the 1882 building or a later one on the second site.

Where it was

300 West Highway 105, 'NE corner of I-25 and 105' (Our Community News calendars, 2025-26); El Paso County address point (county locator, 2026-10-06), on parcel 7114200048, owned by the Town of Monument. Searle (2019) puts it 'across the street from 7-Eleven'; OpenStreetMap's 7-Eleven is about 300 feet west.

A street address, located with the county's address points.

See it on the map

Sources

Sources are named in the text above. Numbers such as S-0080 refer to our source list. Most newspaper quotations were read in the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Long quotations from recent books are shortened here.

Know more about Gwillimville schoolhouse (now the Chamber's meeting house)?

Corrections, family stories, photographs, deeds, letters and maps are all welcome. Messages and files come to Michael Christensen privately; nothing appears on the site until it has been checked, and you'll be credited the way you ask.