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

Busby School

Dating before 1877, this school preceded the town of Busby. The building also served as a community center. The stone school has an outhouse and merry-go-round. Busby was located about 12 miles east of Howard on 23 Road. The school is on Limestone Road.

Elk Falls High School Gym

Though an old High School no longer stands in Elk Falls, Kansas, its gymnasium remains.

Fairview School

This gable-front wood frame rectangular building is located at 1547 Road 17, Howard, Kansas.

Independent School

The small towns of Canola and Greenfield in Greenfield Township combined with Grenola, Kansas, after the railroad arrived in 1879. The school opened on January 1, 1882. The rectangular wood-frame building now serves as a museum operated by the Grenola Historical Society. Independent School is located on South Walnut Street in Grenola, Kansas.

Lower Paw Paw School

The Lower Paw Paw one-room school is a Vernacular-style T-shaped wood-frame building. It is located at 1336 Quail Road, at the intersection with Road 14 north of Howard, Kansas.

Oak Valley School

This stone schoolhouse, a gable-front wood-frame entry vestibule, is located on Union Road, also called Road 29A.

Pleasant Valley School

This school was initially located on Road 8 in Chautauqua County, about eight miles south of Grenola. Today, it is located at 109 Railroad Avenue at the Grenola Museum, Grenola, Kansas. It contains the original furnishings of a one-room school, including wooden desks, a blackboard, old maps, and a potbelly stove.

Prairie-Gem School

This one-room schoolhouse originally stood two miles west of Elk Falls. It was moved to Elk Falls in 2001 and now functions as a museum.

Upper Paw Paw School

Upper Paw Paw was a one-room country school located in the northern part of Elk County, Kansas. On November 29, 1872, Henry E. Hubbell, a voter of Paw Paw Township, visited the office of County Superintendent Mr. A. Ellis to request that a school district be organized in the northern part of Paw Paw Township. On December 9, 1872, a meeting was held at Hubbell’s home, and the organization was planned, boundaries were set, and the district was organized. This one-story wood frame vernacular-style building has a gable roof. From Severy, Kansas, it was located three miles west and two and one-half miles south on the east side of the road. From Howard, Kansas, it was six miles north on Highway 99 to the Cresco Cemetery, two miles west and one and one-half miles north. It is at 2072 14 Road.

Union Center School

The Union Center one-room school originally stood six miles northwest of Howard. It was moved to a site on North Wabash Street in Howard, Kansas.

Union Valley School

This one-story rectangular school was designed in the vernacular style with a gable-on-hip roof and a square entry tower at the northwest corner. It is located at 2301 Quail Road, northeast of Howard.