Quite often in the settlement of Iowa towns the first public building constructed was a school building. Throughout the nineteenth century, town histories mentioned the school buildings within a community as proudly as the railroad stations, banks, and manufacturing enterprises. Very few of these nineteenth-century school buildings remain. One that has survived is the Panora-Linden High School (1897), situated at the corner of Main and Vine Streets. This brick two-and-a-half-story building has slightly projecting pavilions at each corner, and on each of the side elevations is a central pavilion with a somewhat higher roof. The general feeling of the building is French academic, but with little specific reference to the classical tradition. The building ceased to be used as a school in 1930; it is now used as a memorial and a museum.
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