One-Room, Country, & Historic Schools of Wabaunsee County

In 1854, some of the earliest white settlers in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, put down roots along Mill Creek in the northern part of the county. Children living in this valley began to meet for schooling in a log cabin before any school districts existed.

Four schoolhouses were built before 1859, principally by private subscription.

Wabaunsee County’s first school district was created in the town of Wabaunsee in 1859. Its buildings included a 14′ x 20′ church where school was held on weekdays. The teacher was Miss M.H. Cotton, who received a salary of $8 per month for a three-month term. The same year, another school was established along Mission Creek. D.B. Hiatt was the first man to teach in the county,

Many homesteads and schools located near the creek bottoms succumbed to the floods of the 1860s.

By 1863, 15 districts existed across the county, with 13 holding at least a three-month school term. One district had no schools because of Indian raids. At that time, the Wabaunsee County educational system was ahead of some counties in the state because of a taxation system for township needs, including local school district expenses.

After the Kanza and the Potawatomi Indians were displaced from Wabaunsee County in 1868, multitudes of settlers flocked into the county. Log cabins, barns, houses, businesses, and schools were quickly constructed.

On October 25, 1869, a devastating prairie fire roared into the county from the southwest and scorched a 60-mile-wide swath of pasture across the county. The fire took its toll on many buildings, including schools. Following the vengeance of this fire, many native stone schools were systematically built. Documents reveal that almost half of the 91 one-room school buildings in the county were made of native stone at one time or another.

By the 1880s, the educational interests of the county had received great and close attention, and the people cheerfully paid all the taxes imposed upon them for their support. The growth in schools advanced more rapidly than any other interest in the county. Prior to 1859, the year in which the county was organized, there were but four schoolhouses in the county, all of which were built by private subscription. In considering the growth of the schools, it must be borne in mind that up to 1868, one-fourth of the county was without white settlement, except by a few men who had intermarried with the Indians.

In 1882, the county had 63 schoolhouses. The total number of schoolchildren enrolled in the county in 1881 was 2,306, of whom 1,238 were males and 1,098 were females. The average daily attendance during the same year was 591 for males and 529 for females, for a total of 1,120.

This is not a fair criterion, however, of the number of pupils that attended school during the year, as in the winter season, the attendance was about three times as large as during the summer months. The number of children in the county between the ages of five and 21 years, in 1881, was 3,3211, of whom 1,707 were males, and 1,504 were females. The average wages paid to teachers for the same year were: males, $33.20 per month, and females, $27.34. These salaries had nearly doubled since 1860. The schools were well supplied with desks, blackboards, maps, charts, globes, and other apparatus, and the grounds of many of them are beautifully ornamented with shade and other varieties of trees.

Most one-room schools were ungraded until 1890, and children were not placed at a grade level. They were grouped according to ability, and the older students were mentors.

By the end of the 19th century, there were 88 districts in the county. Except for the “city schools,” all of the rural districts operated only one building, and the vast majority employed only one teacher. By that time, most schools were teaching grade-level curricula.

The Great Depression and the end of World War II were the beginnings of the decline of one-room schools.

At their peak, the number of districts grew to 91 schools, but by the 1930s, some rural districts were experiencing declining enrollment numbers. Statewide, there were almost 10,000 school districts, and the State of Kansas saw a need to implement statewide consolidation. Shortly after World War II, it became evident that the one-room schools in Kansas would soon be a thing of the past.

In 1901, the first consolidation legislation was passed in Kansas that empowered the County Superintendent of Schools to close and merge any rural districts that had fewer than five students in their school. Many one-room schools in Wabaunsee County began closing during the 1930s and the 1940s. By 1950, nearly half of the county’s schools had closed and sold their buildings and property.

By 1903, the state of Kansas advanced rural education by also requiring schools to be in session for five months, a two-month increase from the previous three-month term. The size of a one-room school district was typically six square miles, with the hope that children would not have to walk over two miles to school. Wabaunsee County’s roads, however, followed the paths of least resistance rather than square miles. Paths to school sometimes meant students crossed streams at low water fords and then climbed from the valley floor to follow an open trail across the flinty upland ridge. The Flint Hills terrain was sometimes challenging for those walking to school.

These buildings also served as community centers, church services, and political meetings.

By 1950, the number of one-room Kansas schools plummeted from 9,200 to 3,000.

Then, in 1963, the first statewide school legislation was enacted. The plan called for county committees to draw district lines, and the state set minimum district enrollment numbers. Pursuant to that legislation, county Unified School Districts were created.

Subsequently, all of the one-room schools in the county closed.

Today, the county is served by two school districts, including Wabaunsee USD 329, a public unified school district headquartered in Alma, Kansas. The district includes the communities of Alma, Maple Hill, McFarland, Newbury, Paxico, Volland, and nearby rural areas. It operates the following schools: Wabaunsee High School, Wabaunsee Junior High, and Wabaunsee Elementary School in Alma, and the Maple Hill Elementary School in Maple Hill.

Mission Valley USD 330 is a public unified school district headquartered in Eskridge, Kansas. It includes the communities of Eskridge, Harveyville, Dover, Keene, Wilmington, and nearby rural areas. The district also includes the Mission Valley Jr.-Sr. High School and Mission Valley Elementary, both in Eskridge.

 

Historic Schools

Name	District		Years of Operation
Cottonwood	71	Wabaunsee	1885-??	Cottonwood School Now called the Cottonwood Community Club, this old Native American stone school’s interior still features its original wooden ceiling, chalkboard, and light fixtures. The Cottonwood School is located near the far north edge of Wabaunsee Township, on the southwest corner of K-99 and Wells Creek Road, one and a half miles south of Wamego. 39966 K-99 Highway.
Eskridge Grade School		Wabaunsee	1921	Eskridge Grade School The old Eskridge Grade School is a rectangular two-story brick and stone building. The interior is intact, with plaster walls, ceilings, concrete floors, original doors, trim, and a gymnasium. It was built as a grade school in 1921 when the junior high moved to the old high school building next door. This building later closed when the junior high consolidated, and the elementary school moved to the old High School next door. It is located at 508 E. 2nd Street.
Hinerville	15	Wabaunsee	1898-??	Hinerville School The school is located at 28001 Hinerville Road in Alma, Kansas. The first school was organized at Hinerville in 1869, and this school was built in 1898. Today, the building serves as an Airbnb.
Mogge	83	Wabaunsee	1891-1948	Mogge School. District #83 was formed in 1890, and Mogge School was built to serve the 1891-92 school year. The first class had 36 students, several of whom were older than the teacher. As the ranches grew, there were no longer enough students, so it closed in 1948. This one-story, rectangular stone school was designed in the vernacular style. It features a gable-front metal roof and a bell tower over the front entrance. A wooden entry to the south may have been added later, and the metal on the bell tower is more recent. The vacant building is oriented north-south, facing Nehring Branch Road. It is located at 24043 Nehring Branch Road near Alma, Kansas.
Paxico		Wabaunsee	1922-Present	Paxico The old Paxico Rural High School, built in 1922, is an early example of a high school from the school consolidation movement in Kansas. To counter the school attendance problems the town had faced recently, school officials enticed the local Catholic population with parochial school design elements, including a morning chapel and separate entrances for boys and girls, to draw in the needed students. The building remained a high school until 1974, when, in a district move, the school was closed with the intention of busing students to nearby Alma. The sudden closure of the school led to a civil rights suit and a subsequent appeal to reopen the school. Afterward, the school was converted into a junior high school and currently retains that status. It is located at 112 Elm Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 2022.
Rockton	28	Wabaunsee	??	Rockton School This rectangular vernacular-style one-story stone school is located on Nehring Branch Road in the Hessdale vicinity. It has a wood-frame entry with a bell and a gable-front roof. The property also has an outhouse.
Schoolhouse #18	18	Wabaunsee	1880	Schoolhouse #18 This one-story, wood-frame, one-room school was designed in the vernacular style with a front-gabled roof. H.H. Meseke owned the property containing the building in its early years. He and his wife, Caroline, are identified as German immigrants in available census records, and they lived in the area as early as 1860, suggesting that the school may have been associated with the local German community. A single-hinged wood panel entry door with a dormer skylight punctuates the primary facade. A concrete and metal wheelchair ramp has replaced the original stairs and railing. It serves as a meeting house for the Spring Creek Community Club today. It is located on West Spring Creek Road near Volland, Kansas.
Snokomo	32	Wabaunsee	1890-1941	Snokomo Schoolhouse The Snokomo one-room schoolhouse served students of all ages until compulsory education laws restricted attendance to grades 1 through 8 in the early 1900s. The length of the Snokomo School year fluctuated in the 19th and early 20th centuries, averaging about seven months a year. The school served from 1890 until 1941, when consolidation led to its closure. Afterward, the Snokomo Silent Worker Club purchased and utilized the building as a clubhouse. The school is located eight miles south of Paxico on Snokomo Road.
Volland	26	Wabaunsee	1906-1957	Volland School The Volland School was built in 1906 after its predecessor was destroyed by fire. It closed its doors in 1957 and remained vacant until it was purchased by a local family and restored. The Volland School is located on old K10 Road, south of Alma and north of Alta Vista, just southwest of the ghost town of Volland.
Wabaunsee	1	Wabaunsee	1888-1948	Wabaunsee Grammar School Built in 1888, this frame building, measuring 26′ x 40′, served grades 1-8. The original entrance featured a vestibule and two cloakrooms, each providing access to the main schoolroom. The grammar school building had no plumbing when it served as an educational facility, and only received electricity in 1946. This integrated school district had over 20 African-American students enrolled in 1893. The school served until 1948, when a new brick schoolhouse was erected. The building was eventually converted into a one-bedroom, single-family residence and remains so today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It is located at 31794 Center Street in Wabaunsee.
Wilmington	??	Wabaunsee	1870-1950	Wilmington School Wilmington was organized in 1858, and the stone school was built in 1870. The businesses moved there when the Manhattan, Burlingame & Alma Railway was built through Harveyville four miles north. The Stone School and the Church of Christ were built in 1870. The population in 1910 was 69. The school closed in 1950, but still stands. The church also still stands, serving a tiny population. It is 25 miles southeast of Alma, the county seat, and six miles west of Burlingame in Osage County.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, June 2025.

Also See:

Education in Kansas

Historic Sites

Kansas Destinations

Kansas Ghost Towns

One-Room, Country, & Historic Schools of Kansas

Sources:

Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Cutler, William G.; History of Kansas; A.T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Genealogy Trails
New Prairie Press
One Room Schoolhouse
Wabaunsee County Historical Society & Museum
Wikipedia