Roosevelt School Then and Now

700 Avenue G

If you’re interested in Dodge City’s history, you’ve likely heard all about the Third Ward School at the top of Boot Hill. What about the other two? There are still postcards floating around showing the Second Ward School, which was later replaced by Central. However, I have never seen a postcard for the First Ward School. Surely, they must exist. Right?

In the olden days, Dodge was divided into wards with a voting location in each ward, which was usually the schoolhouse. As I’ve said repeatedly, our schools have always been overcrowded so sometimes that “schoolhouse” was a room located in a church or store building. In March of 1888, a building near the South Side Hotel was used as the First Ward School. Ward boundaries were adjusted over time as the population shifted.

Voters were asked to consider a $10,000 bond issue in the Spring of 1910 to build a new school somewhere on the east side of town.

This new school would only accommodate the four lower grades and it was meant to be ready that September.

Bids were supposed to be due by July 25, 1910 but the district hadn’t even chosen a site by July 15. All received bids were rejected and the architect was forced to revise the plans, which meant a September completion date was pure fantasy. A site was chosen in late July on the east side of Avenue G between Spruce and Vine Streets. George Hoover sold the entire block for $1,200.

Contractor William Foley had excavation underway in August and the school was completed in December of 1910. Because this school had no electricity, great care was taken to ensure students could complete their work without eye strain. The windows and seating arrangements were configured for optimum lighting conditions. Heat was provided by stoves and each classroom had a separate flue for better ventilation.

Classes were held in the new building beginning January 2, 1911. The younger children reported to rooms on the first floor with the first-grade class in the south room and a combination second and third-grade class in the north. A combination fourth and fifth-grade class used the south room on the second floor. Sixth and seventh graders were taught in the north room. That year, all eighth-grade work was done at the Second Ward School.

This photo shows the iron fire escape at the back of the building.

This school was overbuilt to accommodate first ward students for many years but it was overcrowded by 1912. An additional room was added for the 1913-14 school year.

The People’s Church held services and Sunday School in the First Ward building but many railroad workers were unable to attend morning services. In December of 1913, Reverend W. E. Rose announced electric lights had been installed in the church room so they could switch to evening services beginning January 1, 1914. Sunday School was still held at 9:30 a.m.

A wood frame classroom was moved from the Third Ward property in November of 1915 to eliminate combination classes.

In 1916, the school district began experimenting with Victrolas in the schools and the First Ward received the first machine. The music teacher made it clear there would be no cheap or trashy music.

Enrollment kept growing and another bond election was held in April of 1917 for an $18,000 addition which would add four more classrooms and modernize the school. At that time, the sixth-grade room was actually a cloak room or an office. Health department officials said it lacked appropriate lighting and ventilation. The bond issue was approved by voters and work was expedited to have the addition ready by September.

Santa Fe employees took up a collection for a flagpole to be installed on the school grounds. Reported measurements varied but it was approximately 90 feet tall. The 8 by 12-foot flag was raised on April 15, 1917.

In June of 1917, the flag was shredded by a windstorm before Santa Fe workers could get it lowered. They once again passed the hat to buy a bigger flag measuring 12 1/2 feet wide and 25 feet long. The patriotic display could be seen from many miles away due to the school’s location up on the hill.

Around 1928, students and teachers voted to change the name from First Ward to Roosevelt School.

You can see the vertical brick seams where what little ornamentation the front of the school had in the beginning was removed.

Enrollment continued to climb and a barracks building from the old Army airfield was moved behind the school for additional classrooms.

By the end of the 1940s, plans were underway for a new Roosevelt School to be built a few blocks north of the old one.

Work began later that year and during the process it was decided to name the new school after longtime Roosevelt principal, Flora B Miller.

Roosevelt students Gene Hefner, Lawrence Brown, Myrna Albertson, Lois Hammar, and Frances Calloway are shown here handing principal Lloyd Shank community cleanup pledge cards in April of 1951.

Classes were held in the new Miller School at the beginning of the 1951-52 school year but the official dedication didn’t take place until October of 1951. The old barracks building behind Roosevelt was advertised for sale shortly afterward.

The school district and recreation commission decided to use the old Roosevelt building as a community recreation center. Fire safety updates were made and the commission moved to their new offices in April of 1952. Work to set up the various learning and recreation spaces was still in progress at that time.

The formal opening was held after a high school football game on October 24, 1952. There were areas designated for dancing as well as arts and crafts, checkers, and woodworking.

This aerial photo taken on September 16, 1953 shows Roosevelt School (red arrow) a few blocks south of Miller School (green arrow).

Over the years, organizations like the Quarterback Club and Boot Hill Saddle Club maintained offices in the building. Hall’s Firestone hosted a Power Tool School, which seems like a terrific idea.

In August of 1966, “A READER” wrote a letter to the editor saying the old building had seen better days and should be torn down and replaced with something bigger.

That’s exactly what happened, for a while anyway. A bland two-story concrete block replacement built south of the demolished school was ready for action in the Fall of 1970.

It has been used as an adult learning center for decades and is owned by Dodge City Community College.

A crumbling asphalt parking lot, cracked basketball court, and play area with more goat head stickers than grass occupy the spot on the hill where the Roosevelt School proudly stood for nearly 60 years.

I don’t have anything clever to say in closing. If you have any family photos or mementos from Roosevelt School, please consider donating them to the Ford County Historical Society. We need to do a better job of preserving the history of our entire community and we need your help to do it.

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