Then and now

Buckley School, Washington, 1890

I was doing some museum research yesterday and ran across this MOHAI photograph of Buckley School. The first two building priorities in Northwest logging communities were a post office and a school house.

Buckley is about an hours drive from Seattle, close to Mt. Rainier.  The towns of Wilkeson and Carbonado developed upriver from Buckley based on their coal resources, but Buckley located on the plateau to the west was primarily a logging community and provided services to the miners.  With a population of 898 in 1890, Buckley had arrived - with both a post office and schoolhouse.

My brother Dave is a high school math teacher in Buckley, and this is the new high-tech school where kids go these days.  

White River High School, Buckley

And something else Dave might appreciate. The math section from an Eighth Grade final exam in 1895.  Could you pass? 


Arithmetic Test (Time, 1.25 hours)
 

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.