Thieves Steal Rose Hill School Bell
Rose Hill, Iowa – The bell sat atop the Rose Hill School before its closure. Its days of alerting children to the start of class were over.
One interested party had the bell removed from the closed school. They had it installed at the park in the center of Rose Hill, along with a plaque dedicating its placement into history. The plaque reads:
In Remembrance Of
Those Who Taught And
Studied Under This
Rose Hill School Bell
1920 – 1977
Dedicated 1990
In mid-January, Lori Yeager, City Clerk for Rose Hill, called the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office to report the historical artifact had been stolen. No one is sure when the bell was stolen, it could have been two weeks before it was noticed as missing. The value in metal is estimated to be only $500.00, but for a town like Rose Hill, that connection to its history is now gone.
“Very frustrating that somebody would stoop that low,” says Yeager.
It’s believed that at least two people were involved in the theft. If you have any information about the missing artifact, please contact the Mahaska County Sheriffs Office at (641) 673-4322.