Education for children on the Georgetown Divide began with home schools for a few gold miner families in the early 1850s. The first permanent school was established in 1854 on School Street. It was replaced in 1890 by a two-story schoolhouse on Harkness Hill at a cost of $4,000. That building was used until 1948, when a more modern structure was built in the same location. As the unique rural population expanded, the school continued to grow, and it has educated the children of the Georgetown Divide continuously from 1854 to the present.