Wesley School

Anglos and Scotts had originally settled in the Wesley area when it was called William’s Prairie and educated their children in their own school building which was located three miles from the actual town that later became Wesley.  When the Czech settlers arrived in the area in 1859, one of them was Josef Masik who had been a teacher in Czechoslovakia for 20 years.  He saw a need for education in the area and started tutoring in his home.  The Czech population increased from 1863-1865 and there was a need for a larger location for school.  After the dedication of the Wesley Brethren Church in 1866, the church filled this need and began to serve as a place of worship and learning.

In 1873, Professor Masik sold ½ acre of land for $5.00 to build the Bohemian Reading Club.  They built a small building to house the books brought over by the Czech—immigrants making this a library of sorts. When the building burned in 1883(84), it was rebuilt as a 2 story hall in 1884.  This hall later was shared by the Reading Club and the children and teachers as a school in 1898 or earlier. This officially placed the school in Washington county.