City/Town: • Coffeyville |
Location Class: • School |
Built: • 1955 | Abandoned: • 2004 |
Status: • Restored 2024 |
Photojournalist: • Darrell Powers |
The long-neglected and vandalized Longfellow Grade School was constructed in 1955 to replace the former Longfellow School that sat on the same property. The new school opened for classes after the winter break with a few things still needing to be wrapped up with construction before the building was fully complete. Within just a few months after its official completion, the old building was torn down leaving decades of former Longfellow students devasted and those incoming to only know the new building.

The decision was made to have one school and the savings in maintenance costs should offset the cost. This pitch given to the community wasn’t well-received, no one wanted to give up their neighborhood schools. But unfortunately, they were in between a rock and a hard place because the budgets wouldn’t allow all the schools to stay open regardless.
Reverend Pugh disagreed with this reasoning for closing the schools state, “Longfellow School along with all the other neighborhood schools was not closed or phased out only because of budget issues, the underlying major cause was racial inequality. It seems at the time, there was one school whose students were primarily African-American had burnt and badly damaged beyond safe repair. The School Board under pressure of legal proceedings decided that combining all the students in one single building would solve the problem. They used the guise of the buildings being outdated and cost-prohibitive for retrofit to push their agenda. The bond issue was presented and voted down on numerous occasions until it was combined with a city sales tax plan and voted into effect. Each of these buildings could’ve been retrofitted for less than the sum total, keeping the neighborhood schools in place.”
Regardless of the reasoning, the school was abandoned and upon my visit was terribly neglected. My hope for the building dwindled as each time I saw pictures it was in worse and worse shape. That was until I received an email from Robert Cooper detailing that the school had been restored.

“My daughter and I started Friend and Kin Properties, Inc. in February of 2023. We purchased the Longfellow property from Tree Life Ministries. We are an approved 501(3)c recognized. The project is to be completed in four phases. Phase 1 was the south building, Phase 2 was to secure the gym and the main building and install water, sewer. and electricity. Phase 1 & 2 are complete.
Gallery Below of Longfellow School
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Longfellow School along with all the other neighborhood schools was not closed or phased out only because of budget issues, the underlying major cause was racial inequality. It seems at the time, there was one school whose students were primarily African-American had burnt and badly damaged beyond safe repair. The School Board under pressure of legal proceedings decided that combining all the students in one single building would solve the problem. They used the guise of the buildings being outdated and cost prohibitive for retrofit to push their agenda. The bond issue was presented and voted down on numerous occasions… Read more »
I went to school at Longfellow elementary. It is sad to see it now. I have many good memories of my school days.
Would never have known this place existed had I not been diverted/detoured due to Hwy 169 being closed for road work at the RR tracks. It proved a curiosity and on putting up in Nowata I looked it up. Very sad. Having been born in 57 myself and proving a rolling stone for many a year, I know well that lives were launched in many a place like this. Too bad it was budgeted out of existence. There are always plenty of lives to be launched in cozy schools and they’d be richer for it.