In 2009, the city council in the Keokuk County town of Hayesville voted unanimously to demolish West Lancaster School #9, which had been a fixture in the community for over a century. In addition to serving students, in its heyday, the two-room country school served as a mayor’s court and a gathering place for lawn movies shown on the school’s back wall.

In the 1960s, the school closed and has been used only sparingly as a polling space since. Before its demolition, it suffered from a crumbling foundation, interior led paint and a ruined roof. The cost to preserve and remove the school would have exceeded $100,000.