| City/Town: • Arlington |
| Location Class: • School |
| Built: • 1912 | Abandoned: • 1960s |
| Status: • Abandoned • Burned Down |
| Photojournalist: • Charles Wheeler Drew Roberts |
During the school election of April 1911, a new school building was discussed and decided this is a need that needed to be addressed soon. The nearby towns of Sylvia, Turon and Pretty Prairie had all just gotten brand new schoolhouses. It was a concern of the Arlington district that students would fall behind in schoolwork as a result of not having a thorough equipt building. By the next year, work commenced on a state-of-the-art two-story building that would become the new Arlington School. Architects Mann & Gerow of Hutchinson were skilled and popular architects throughout the area responsible for designing dozens of buildings, including the new school. Muth Plumbing & Heating Co. was able to secure the contract for the heating plant.
The Arlington School was late to open with expectations of opening after the first of the year, so students had to attend school for the first semester of the 1912 school year in three vacant buildings. The buildings were leased to the school board for use until the building was complete. When completed it was a magnificent two-story building with six rooms and a basement.
It is unknown exactly why the school closed but the building became abandoned in the 1960s. It continued to be used as storage for a few years after but by the 1970s was pretty much left to fall to the elements.
Unfortunately, the Arlington School met its official demise on March 28, 2015, when a nearby farmer had done a controlled burn on his field nearby. The wind unexpectedly shifted and headed straight for the building. Being as most of the inner construction was made of wood the school quickly shot up in flames. Firefighters from Reno County Fire District No. 4 and the South Hutchinson Fire Department arrived around and spent the morning putting out the blaze.
Gallery Below of Arlington School
https://www.hutchnews.com/story/news/local/2015/03/28/fire-guts-former-arlington-school/20939085007/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/477798220/?terms=arlington%20school&match=1
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Awesome pictures (the ones of it still standing & intact are mine…taken in 1999)! 😉 Interesting info about the start of that 1912 school year, with the students having to attend school in some other vacant buildings until the new school building was complete…didn’t know that! The Fairfield School District was created in the early 1960s & consolidated/included the towns of Arlington, Langdon, Sylvia, and Turon. This is most likely why this elementary school was closed around that time.
It looks like this school was replaced by the one at 900 West Main in the mid 1950s. When I was a kid it was known as Fairfield East Elementary. It closed about a decade ago when K-12 classes were all consolidated at the site north of Langdon. The replacement building is still in use (city hall/library I think?)
Yes, a newer elementary school was built in the 50s/early 60s and became Fairfield East when the Fairfield district was created. It closed 10+ years ago when the enrollment of the district became too small to keep either elementary school open—East & Fairfield West (which was the old Sylvia High School). Both closed & they moved the entire Fairfield district to the middle & high school, outside of Langdon.