Pottawatomi Mission Boarding School and Farm
The Pottawatomi Mission Boarding School and Farm, located in Jackson County, Kansas, opened in 1875.
Embracing 63 acres, the boarding school and farm was 15 miles southwest of Holton. The school building, boardinghouse, barn, and laundry cost $12,000.
The farm was well-stocked with horses, cattle, hogs, and poultry. The male students were taught to participate in all labor required to operate the farm and care for livestock. The girls of the school were taught to bake, cook, sew, wash, and perform other household duties.
Pottawatomie Mission Boarding School and Farm.
The school buildings were well equipped with facilities for student boarding and lodging. The school ran for 12 months, during which the children learned English well and were prepared for future citizenship.
In 1882, the Indian school was taught by the efficient teacher, Miss Annie Linn (daughter of the agent, Dr. Linn of Missouri. At that time, approximately 40 students were enrolled, with an attendance of approximately 30.
Pottawatomie Mission Boarding House.
Later, the school was closed, and the school building and the boarding school were razed.
By 1917, Sam and Lenora C. Blandin owned the quarter section where the Pottawatomi Mission Boarding School and Farm was located. That year, the Blandins sold the property to Alfred W. Morris, who owned the property until September 1919. He then sold the entire 360-acre tract to C.C. Broyles, who had moved from Hale, Missouri, in February 1920. He was a farmer and breeder of Shorthorn cattle, Berkshire hogs, and Plymouth Rock chickens.
C.C. Broyles’ grandson, John (Kenneth), assisted both his grandfather and his father, William Kenneth, while growing up on the farm. Kenneth assumed greater responsibilities on the Broyles’ farm after returning home from the Korean War in the spring of 1953. Eventually, he would take the farming over for his father. He continued to farm the property until the mid-2000s.
Today, only a house and a two-story, timber-frame barn, first utilized by the Pottawatomi Mission Boarding School and Farm, remain. The Broyles’ extended family still owns it.
It is located at 7593 124th Road, about eight miles northeast of Delia, Kansas.
Old Boarding School Barn.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, January 2026.
Also See:
Sources:
Cutler, William G. History of Kansas. A.T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory
The Potawatomies of Kansas