We visited Forbes in May of 2011 and got pictures of the town, plus this gallery of the former school. There were so many great things to photograph, we decided to put the photos of the interior of the school into this separate gallery.
A green moss carpet covers most of the floor in this damp former classroom.
Saplings have sprouted up through the floor, stretching to reach the sun through a hole in the roof.
That’s the former gymnasium in the background.
Photos by Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp, copyright Sonic Tremor Media LLC
Ghosts of North Dakota 
This is so sad to see how bad the school is wrecked,, My grandmother, Elizabeth Maier lived right across from the school, so anytime we would visit,, we kids would go over and play on the play ground, and play ball on the ball field,, along with any kids from Forbes that wanted to join us,, We had some fun times there, and Wedding receptions were held in the basement, where the blue benches are pictured,,, I guess you may say there are lots of Ghosts in these photos.. Thanks for posting this,, brings back so many memories
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Interesting!
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It saddens me to see this wonderful school in this condition. Even so, they bring back tons of memories of walking through those front doors and down the hall as the years passed and we worked our way down to the other end of the building. Thank you guys for including Forbes in your adventures.
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My Grandparens, Lester and Molly Holmes too care of the school for most of my life. I remember going and watching my Grandma cook in the gym kitchen and my Grandfather do his janitorial work. It is sad to see it in that condition. I love the picture of the cottonwood tree growing out of the floor in the school. It makes me think that from old will come new once again.
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Mother Nature really does take it back, doesn’t she?
I can’t help but wonder however, why these abandon buildings, like schools, aren’t stripped down and the resources used elsewhere. Surely someone, somewhere, could make use of this left behind stuff.
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I was thinking the same thing
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I too have to wnder why none of these buildings ever get sold or used to start some new place of business, but then most of the time, they are not set up to accomadate the purpose that they would be used for.. There is a place in Jamestown that is using the old School house for a computor business,and still has the rooms as if School was in session, and how awsome it is,, along with meeting rooms , so why could these not be used for this??? way to much red tape and we are in a throw away world,, throw away and buy or make somthing new….
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Thats a great idea i will bring it up to them. 🙂
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Strip down a building that isn’t ours? No! No one said “Take what you need”, so we don’t!
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I love the shots where the greenery is taking over and… the doorway looking through the broken wall. Love them!!
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How long has the school been closed? Was it a single building that served all grades?
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Not sure when the school closed. I graduated from there in 1972.
Thanks;;;Forbes People Store…The best sausage!
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I do believe Lester Holmes was my bus driver also. My parents farm was about 5 miles NW of Forbes. No buildings left any more. The house was moved into Ellendale 36+ years ago & remodeled and is on a road in Ellendale towards the Ellendale Cemetary.
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The school closed in 1987. I completed 2nd Grade then. It was a single building that served all grades. The unique thing with our school district was having kids from 2 states go to school there. In the end, I believe the kids went to 4 different school districts (if not more).
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My dad Cleo Moore said the school closed around 1986.
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I guess i just needed to read a little more 1987.
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Was your Dad a science teacher?
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I enjoyed looking at the pictures. I attended shool there in 1941-1943.
Brings back many fond memories. My dad was Glenn “Jocko” Marshall.
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i remember the basketball rivalry.. between forbes and monango.. they were always so much cooler i thought. lol
it was a simpler hlalthier time. we never thought that life would turn out this way.. my Americal looks alot like this school building.
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I like reading the comments about Forbes, plus many other surrounding towns that I am familiar with.
Class of 1972. 10 of us Graduated. The story that I tell people is that I graduated in the “”TOP 10 “” of my class BUT I won’t say what # I was. 🙂
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I graduated from Ellendale High School in 1990 with other kids from Forbes. My junior year we held an after prom party (so early in 1989?) at the Forbes school, if I remember correctly. We used some of the classrooms for laser tag. Seems like there was an auditorium with a wood basketball court and the floor was already starting to buckle. We were told not use use that part of the building. I’ll go post a link to this site on Facebook and maybe get some others to chime in.
Chris Grant
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Ah ha. It was Guelph I was thinking of, not Forbes. Similar looking buildings. Sorry…
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Went to school there graduated in 84.. Worked with Molly and Lester cleaning after school and in the summer.. Kinda makes me a little sad.
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My family is from around that area, i’ve actually taken photos from about 4 years ago and to this year and the school has caved in a lot more recently, and actually me and my friend just got done doing some shooting over there in the gymnasium and the school.
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I played basketball in that gym against the Forbes team. Our school Hague played them twice a year every year I was in high school, as we had similar sized schools. It was a challenge to play there due to the poor lighting and really small court. Our high school closed the same year I graduated 1983. Not sure when the Forbes high school shut down, or if they had a basketball team after that year.
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My family came from Leola, SD to Forbes where my Grandfather was the blacksmith. He could make or fix anything. As a kid we used to down to Forbes on occasion back in the 60’s. I remember driving west on the gravel road that is the border of ND and SD. We found a cemetery that had been overrun by cattle. My any of my early family were buried there.
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We used to live right across the road from the school. Dad was the last depot agent in Forbes. We think of Forbes as our home. Lot’s of great memories at the school and play ground. My bother, sisters and I were lucky to visit Forbes in 1993 and able to tour the school, gym and our old house. It was holding together pretty good back then. Too bad someone wasn’t able to salvage the school with a business. I still have a teaspoon that we found in the dump behind the school a long time ago. It was a great town to raise kids.
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They consolidated all the one room country schools. While the new school was being built we went to old country schools that had been moved onto the school property. The now delappedated building was built in 1960. The gym was used for sports activities with the school cafeteria in the basement. I worked in the cafeteria with Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Rall.
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Very interesting..I am of the Forbes family and married to an Erickson of Fargo and living in Florida and considering relocating to Fargo with her so she can be closer to home. Nice to see family name there and will definitely be going through Forbes and where these pictures are one day soon!
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