Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse

Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Podcasts

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• Press 401 for Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Introduction
• Press 402 for Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Beginnings
• Press 403 for Restoration
• Press 404 for Interior

Limestone schoolhouse against a blue sky

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Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Introduction

The Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse, completed in 1882, was just one of many signs that a more settled, stable, and established existence was taking shape in the American West. One-room schoolhouses would soon spread across the West as settlers established themselves, believing that only through education and knowledge could a child one day fully participate in American society.

Image of Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse, ca. 1880s

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Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Beginnings

Residents of the Fox Creek area decided in 1878- 1879 that a school district should be formed for the education of their children. Being one of the earlier districts formed, it was given the number 14, though it was commonly called the Lower Fox Creek School.The site for the schoolhouse was donated by Stephen F. Jones , located approximately 1/2 mile north of his Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. He stipulated in his donation of the land that if the school would ever close, the land would revert back to the ranch owner.The limestone for the schoolhouse came from the quarry of David Rettiger. David Rettiger, the same architect who built the Chase County Courthouse and the Spring Hill Ranch main ranch house, built the schoolhouse for $1,000, completing the work in 1882.The Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse did not hold its first class, however, until September 1, 1884 whenthe first teacher was finally hired. The average enrollment at the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse ranged from one to nineteen students in grades1 through 8. Classes continued to be held in the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse until 1930, when the school was closed. The school district disbanded in 1946-47 and the schoolhouse property reverted back to the ranch owner at that time, George Davis.

Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse as it looked after restoration in 1973.

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Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Restoration

After the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse reverted back to the Davis Ranch in 1946, it was usedfor a time as a residence by some of the ranch’s employees. In 1950, a tornado or windstorm collapsed the original roof and roofline. The roofline was repaired when the ranch was owned by the Davis-Noland-Merrill Grain company and a tin roof applied. The schoolhouse was then used to store hay.In 1968, the fourteen garden clubs in the Mid-East District of the Garden Clubs of America selected the restoration of the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse as their special project. After the approval of the ranch owner at that time, the Davis-Noland-Merrill Grain Company, the clubs raised the funds and restored the building to as close to its original 1882 configuration as possible. The Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 6, 1974.

Interior view of Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse outfitted for children's program activities.

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Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse Interior

The interior of the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse has been restored as much as possible back to its original 1882 appearance. Although no original furnishings survive to the present, period furnishings from other one-room schoolhouses in the area were acquired by the fourteen gardenclubs in the Mid-East District of the Garden Clubs of America to complete the interior restoration.The preserve conducts programs for school groups recreating the experience of attending classes in a one-room prairie schoolhouse.

Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse and cottonwood tree against sky and clouds

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