Abbe Creek School, about a mile west of Mount Vernon, Iowa, stands on land claimed by William Abbe and is believed to be the oldest surviving one-room brick schoolhouse in the state. Organized by pioneer settlers in 1844, the school began in a log building before the present brick structure was erected in 1856. For 92 years it served as both a school and a center of rural community life, hosting worship, singing, and spelling as well as classes. Its surviving initials, teacher records, spring, storm cellar, and nearby Sugar Grove Cemetery preserve a vivid picture of 19th-century country schooling and the surrounding community.