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Pioneering
the High Country: Dunn |
Dunn: High in the Hills
Dunn
was named after Peter Dunn, a bachelor who settled down in the old
Hopkin’s place. A mountain, a creek, and the post office all bore his
name as well. Dunn is credited with not only naming his small
settlement, but also creating the name for Summit Valley by saying,
"Well, we’re right near the summit, and this is a fine valley—so
why don’t we call it Summit Valley."
The
Dunn school formed in 1892 and pupils attended classes in a log building
on Raber Lake. When there were extremely severe winters, classes had to
be rescheduled to the summer months. The Pearson children all went to
school in Dunn and Jim Pearson recalls a hot afternoon of mischief.
"One such instructor Mrs. Ruby Smith, who to escape the sweltering
heat of the schoolroom, led her students to the shade of a huge fir tree
which stood on the grounds.
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The
Pearson Family |
Jim
recalled, ‘As Mrs. Smith became absorbed in the book she was reading
to the class, one by one the children cautiously edged out of her sight
to escape to pleasanter activities, until only a handful remained to
hear the end of the story—and the teacher still unaware that most of
her audience had vanished!’" (Alpha
Naff, The Last Bell)
In
1907 two school districts were joined and a new building was constructed
closer to the county road. By 1912 the town of Dunn had faded from the
scene, and today remains only in our memories.
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Photo
Post Card from John Rakoz of Dunn to the France Family,
Blue Creek |
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