Kim Schools (Abandoned) – Kim CO

City:
Kim, CO

Site Type:
Education and Health, Schools

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Started:
1933

Completed:
1941

Quality of Information:
Good

Marked:
No

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

An elementary school and high school, plus a gymnasium, were constructed by the New Deal for the rural settlement of Kim, Colorado.  The work was undertaken by three different New Deal agencies over a period of 8 years, 1933 to 1941.  History Colorado provides more details:

“Three stone buildings, a gymnasium flanked by an elementary and a high school, represent the work of several New Deal relief programs administered in eastern Colorado.  Constructed over an eight-year period, the buildings provided employment in Kim during much of the Great Depression.  

Construction on the gymnasium began in December 1933 as a Civil Works Administration project.  It was completed in the spring of 1935 after being transferred to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and finished by a Works Progress Administration project.  The school district [then] submitted a successful WPA application for the 1937 elementary school.  The WPA approved a third project in 1938 for the county high school building, which was dedicated in January 1941.

These were the first substantial education buildings constructed in Kim.  Built from locally quarried stone with framing materials salvaged from buildings demolished at Fort Lyon, they are excellent examples of New Deal Rustic design with craftsmanship, materials, and construction methods reflecting their origin as public works programs designed to provide employment….  The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission.” (History Colorado)

There are many more abandoned schools in SE Colorado as a result of general depopulation of the area.

Source notes

Information and photograph submitted by Stephen R. Jones

Site originally submitted by Stephen R. Jones on April 13, 2016.

Location Info


Kim, CO Las Animas County

Coordinates: 37.246686, -103.352161

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