McCaskill Training School records

As the Twin Ports rapidly expanded towards the turn of the 20th century, the need for access to schooling and the teachers to provide it grew alongside. In response to this demand, the Superior Normal School was founded in 1893 to provide the skills needed for prospective teachers to provide quality education for the area’s children.

In 1914, the school burned to the ground as the result of an electrical fire, but soon after, in 1916, a new fireproof structure, the current Old Main, was built in its place. The next addition, the Training School (now Erlanson Hall), followed shortly thereafter, opening for students in September 1917 while workers were still adding finishing touches to the interior. In 1926, it was renamed in honor of the late Superior Normal School president, Virgil Everett McCaskill.

McCaskill was a laboratory school that provided practical training for aspiring teachers to work with students in a classroom setting. With nearly two hundred and fifty children enrolled in kindergarten through junior high, they had an opportunity to learn hands-on, learning the skills needed to teach in rural schools and beyond. Students were offered a well-rounded education, including access to a full library and a gymnasium; additionally, sports and extracurricular organizations, like the Badger Club, formed in 1950, were made available. Assembled by the sixth-grade class, the Badger Club worked diligently to learn and write about the area's history. They won many awards through presentations, reports, and participating in art contests at the state level.

McCaskill moved across campus in 1959 and continued to produce skilled educators until the mid 1970s when it closed. In 2008 the building was demolished to make room for Swenson Hall.