This paper provides a history of early public schools in two Iowa townships. Townships are six by six mile areas of land that were established as the result of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The civil townships of Bennington and Cedar Falls were part of 17 townships located in Black Hawk County, Iowa. The Northwest Ordinance specified that the sale or income from a section in each township would be used by the state to build and support public schools. Additionally, an act of the Iowa Legislature in 1858 made each civil township a school district, ensuring that the tax unit for common schools was no smaller than a township. In Bennington and Cedar Falls Townships, nine subunits were created, each containing a school. Schools were usually started by a family or teacher and were private or subscription schools that required payment per child from the family to the village. In 1872, the Iowa General Assembly allowed a township to divide into nine rural independent districts, each having a three-member local board. After 1872, many townships voted to create independent districts that consisted of nine tax units instead of one. The number of school districts in Iowa increased rapidly in the next 4 years, until this authorization was withdrawn by the General Assembly in 1876. In the mid-1950s, due to low attendance and the passage of the School District Reorganization Law, most one-room schools became part of consolidated high school districts. Diagrams illustrate changes in school districts. (LP)