Elk City School

(Featured Image Credit to Peri Moritz Flickr 2008)

Elk City High School

Elk City was experiencing a surge in population when it was announced that a brand new Elk City High School would be built. The town was ecstatic to have this new structure to bring the best education to their students and attract more new families to the town.

Architectural sketches gave the public a behind-the-scenes view of what their new school would look like. Two stories of brick and stone, containing seven classrooms, a gymnasium and an auditorium. The building was fitted with all modern materials and appliances like steam heating, indoor plumbing and lighting throughout. Architect S.S. Voigt of Wichita designed the school with a price tag of $35,000. Officially dedicated in November of 1929 the whole town celebrated its completion. The school resembles that of the one in Liberty, KS to me.

The new gymnasium and auditorium brought about a fierce change in the schools’ athletics. Girls and boys basketball teams and the football team were often on the winning side of sporting events. When playing other towns the players would ride the train to get to their games.

By 1946 Elk City had become the consolidation district of a few of the surrounding towns after a few of the schools closed. Five school buses were needed to transport all the consolidated students from outside the town to Elk City. This boosted the school’s enrollment numbers. That same year the National School Lunch Act passed, which allowed qualified students to receive low or free cost of a hot lunch.

Tragedy struck the district in 1960 on an end-of-the-year camping trip of about 40 students along the Neosho River. Coach William Adkins and two boys L.B. Newton and Steve Chism were in a boat setting a trot line when it capsized. Adkins and Chism swam to shore but then looked back to find a panicked Newton. Adkins swam back out to Newton grabbing him and swimming him back to shore. Just before they could make it the current swept Newton away from Adkins’s grasp. Newton drowned and his body was recovered two days later about 300 yards from where the accident occurred.

Over the next few decades, the school prospered with graduates, educational awards and athletic wins. But unfortunately, everything good must come to an end. With the passing of the 1963 School Consolidation Act, many of the small-town and rural schools could no longer stay open. Some of the bigger schools were able to hold on just a bit longer, Elk City was one of them.

A vote was held in 1970 to retain the school district with 243 votes in favor of disorganizing and 388 not. It was then that the possibility was brought up to repurpose the high school as the elementary school, classes for the elementary were at the time being held in the old 1882 structure. It was said that the whole building needed to be replaced before any further use.

Even with the vote of retaining the school district, the decision was made later that year to officially close the high school. The last graduating class of 15 students walked the stage and the community celebrated the memories of the building. Students would from then on be bussed to Independence to attend classes.

An auction was held to sell of the surplus materials and equipment inside the Elk City High School. The sale resulted in a payout of $4,893.75 to the USD #446 which had inherited most of the equipment upon its consolidation with Elk City schools.

Elk City Elementary School

All hope for the school wasn’t lost, at first. A year after its closure the building was converted into a community recreation center/grade school. This allowed for classes to be held, games to still be played in the gymnasium, alumni to meet to meet yearly or more often if they wanted and the community to have an events space.

About $55,000 was poured into a remodel of the aging building and the VoAg building across the street that had been built in 1954. This building was used for music, shop, 4H and FFA classes. The remodeling contract was awarded to Muchow Construction Co. Additional multipurpose rooms were proposed in 1979. This building is the one that was repurposed into the Elk City Elementary School after the High School closed.

By 1982 the community was fighting again to keep their school open. The USD #446 had proposed a new consolidated elementary school plan that would then close the Elk City Grade School that was being held in the former high school buildings. A petition of 450 signatures was presented to the board in favor of keeping the school open.

After much discourse, a feasibility committee was created to look at options of keeping the schools open or consolidating. Fate of the school was decided in December of that 1985 to close the Elk City Elementary School due to declining enrollment leaving it economically impractical to keep open.

The building seemed to officially close in 1988 when the deteriorating condition caused the Alumni Association to begin holding their meetings elsewhere. All of the class pictures, trophies and other memorabilia were moved to other buildings in Elk City.

2011 Elk City High School Fire

At about 3 am on a night in January 2011, the neighbors awoke to their beloved school building engulfed in flames. Firefighters rushed to the scene but by the time they were able to put it out the building was gone. Only a shell remained of what the school used to be. Around 2020 the shell was demolished, and the VoAg building remains abandoned.

View every graduating class and tons of class photos HERE!

Gallery Below of Elk City School

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