Emma Lou Spooner, left, and Barbara Sytsma discuss a photograph in Bill Lansing’s new book, Tuesday. Sytsma is in the photo as a second-grade student at Catching Inlet School in 1940, a year before the single-room school house burned to the ground. Spooner was her teacher. -World photo by Alex Powers

The Coos Historical and Maritime Museum hosted an author event to celebrate the publication of Bill Lansing’s latest book, “Remember When: Coos County Schools 1850-1940” Tuesday, at the Harding Building, 755 S. Seventh Street.

“Remember When” is the result of years of research and personal interviews with longtime Coos County residents and chronicles the first 100 years of the local schools’ history. The book contains photographs and maps of the one-room schoolhouses that prevailed early in county history. According to Lansing, there were more than 90 school districts in the county at one point, to ensure children had access to education within a reasonable distance from their homes. Some students even traveled by riverboat to school.

His first two books area “Seeing the Forest for the Trees” and “Can’t You Hear the Whistle Blowin’.” All three books are published in high-quality format with extensive photographs, narratives and maps.