The town of Lake Monroe was once a thriving community but much of its identity was swallowed up by I-4, and the rest erased by industrial buildings around the railroad of West Sanford. It overlays roughly with the former village of St. Joseph and borders the historically black community of Bookertown to its west and the Swedish settlement of Upsala to the south.

Hidden down a one-lane road, conveniently called School Street, we find the old Lake Monroe Public School. It opened in 1919 and closed in 1977 after the school board decided the real estate was not worth the upgrades needed.

It was fortunately purchased by a citizen who lovingly restored it, and today it continues to be a private home.