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       James Semple presented the stone school building to his new village in 1857.  It is reported to have cost $2,833.  It was originally the Elsah School and children in grades 5 through 8 were taught in the room which is now the Village offices.  The younger children were taught in the classroom below.  The school operated until 1970 and some of the folks you meet today were educated there. Throughout the nineteenth century both the upper and lower rooms were filled to capacity. The school was also a cultural center for the village since the pupils often performed in dramatic or musical entertainments to help furnish the building.  It now houses the Village offices, meeting rooms and the public rest rooms.  If you walk around to the south side, you'll see the high water mark of the 1993 flood.  Walk back to Mill Street and look down toward the river.  You'll get a sense of the power of the Mighty Mississippi.