- City:
- Prairie Village, KS
- Site Type:
- Schools, Education and Health
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
The grade school in Prairie Village was constructed during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. An article at the Johnson County Museum described the Prairie School dedication ceremony, which was attended by the local PWA chairman. The PWA building has since been largely demolished, though Prairie Elementary School operates in a new building on the same site.
The city of Prairie Village did not exist in the 1930s. (Prairie School was considered a rural schoolhouse.) Prairie Village grew up around the school and incorporated in the 1950s. So while Prairie School would be considered part of Prairie Village today, it was not part of the Prairie Village when it was constructed.
Barbara Pendleton: “In the early 1970s I was in high school and attended the church across the street. Our church was being renovated and we had our Sunday school classes across the street in Prairie School. At the time there was a plaque in the school hallway indicating it had been built by the [PWA]. I specifically remember that because we were studying the WPA in school at the time. I thought it was pretty cool that this school was part of history. Sometime in the 1990s the school burnt down and I imagine the plaque has been lost. There is a new school building on the site, but they saved the old school’s entryway and it is part of a garden. Also I’ve heard they are still using the old WPA basement, but don’t know for sure.”
Pictured is the Prairie Grade School in 1960 from the school yearbook of 1960. The view is from 67th Street looking Northeast at the southwest corner of the school.
Source notes
Contributor experiences
Site originally submitted by Barbara Pendleton on January 21, 2016.
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