Representative Image of a historic schoolhouse surrounded by oak trees, showcasing restoration efforts after storm damage (AI Generated Image)

In February 2021, two oak trees fell onto the Mark Prairie Schoolhouse in Clackamas County, Oregon, crushing the roof and damaging parts of the walls of the 1879 building. The schoolhouse had been built on land settled by John and Mary Francis “Fanny” Mark, who arrived in Clackamas County in 1847 via the Oregon Trail, and it had already spent decades serving a different purpose by the time the trees came down. The school closed in 1946, after which the Mark Prairie Community Club, now the Mark Prairie Historical Society, took ownership and continued using it as a community gathering space. When the storm struck, the building’s old-growth Douglas fir floors survived despite being exposed to rain and debris. Local volunteers then began rebuilding, using new Douglas fir milled to match the original interior and salvaging whatever could be saved. Even some of the oak from the trees that caused the destruction ended up becoming part of the restored schoolhouse.

How local volunteers rebuilt the schoolhouse using the same trees that damaged it

The damage was extensive, but much of the historic building remained salvageable. The Mark Prairie Historical Society led the rebuilding effort, with volunteers helping remove and protect original desks, books, artefacts, and other material from the damaged building. The original old-growth Douglas fir floors were retained, while new Douglas fir was milled to reproduce the damaged tongue-and-groove interior panelling. Materials were reused wherever possible, including white oak taken from the very trees that had fallen onto the schoolhouse. The roof was rebuilt, the walls were straightened, and the cupola was replaced. Rather than reconstructing the building as a completely new structure, the project focused on retaining as much of the original schoolhouse as possible while bringing the building up to modern requirements. Peggy Sigler, a longtime preservationist and former National Trust employee who managed the restoration, told the National Trust that there was never a question of whether the building would be saved: “Everyone jumped on board quickly.”

How 33 grants helped pay for the schoolhouse’s restoration

The restoration was ultimately funded through 33 grants, donations and a partial insurance settlement, according to an April 2026 report on the project. The National Trust had also provided a $10,000 Preservation Fund grant to help restore the schoolhouse’s interior. Rather than replacing everything with new materials, volunteers and contractors reused what they could, including white oak from the fallen trees. New Douglas fir was milled to match damaged interior panelling, while the original old-growth Douglas fir floors survived the storm. By 2024, the historical society was still raising money to finish the interior, including the new panelling, electrical and plumbing work needed to bring the historic building up to current codes. The combination of grants, insurance, donations and volunteer labour allowed the small community organisation to take on a restoration that would otherwise have been difficult to finance.

What the restored Mark Prairie Schoolhouse is used for today

The restored schoolhouse reopened in May 2025, returning to the role it had held for generations as a place for the surrounding community to gather. The Mark Prairie Historical Society now operates the building as both a community space and an event venue. Its current facilities include a 600-square-foot classroom, a 360-square-foot service kitchen, an entry vestibule, an ADA-accessible bathroom, storage space and an exterior porch, with the surrounding property forming part of a larger oak grove and Memorial Park. The building still contains original and reproduction materials, allowing it to function as a usable community space without losing its connection to the 1879 schoolhouse. The National Trust included the project in the “Transitions” section of its Winter 2026 issue of Preservation, which highlights historic places that have recently been restored, threatened, saved from demolition or lost. For Mark Prairie, the story ended with the schoolhouse reopening rather than disappearing after the storm.