Late 1890s image from a 1900 publication "Images of Moline" issue by the Moline Mail.

The "new" Garfield School opened in 1902.

Garfield School, 1975.

From sometime in the 1880s until 1896, half of this building was Stewartville School. In 1896, its size was doubled and in the same year it was renamed Garfield School when Stewartville was annexed to Moline. Then on the morning of March 5, 1901 the janitor, Tom Thompson, fired up the two furnaces (one in the older part of the building, and one in the newer), went home for breakfast, and then returned to find the entire building in flames. The building was lost and replaced by a new Garfield School that opened in 1902.

The “new” Garfield School (right), opened in 1902. Still in use today, the theme for its 100-anniversary celebration was “100 Cheers for 100 years.”

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