By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“First School Started Here In The Second Year Of the Civil War”
In 1861 when Kansas became a state, one of the first actions taken by the Legislature in 1862 was to pass an act providing that there be a school in every city. The beginning of schools in Junction City was the establishment of District No. 1 on July 12, 1862 in Davis County.
During the second year of the Civil War, children of various ages were taught by Mrs. Charlotte McFarland. She taught the children of her neighborhood at her home. Later, Mrs. McFarland was employed to instruct the children of the town in a room over the city jail
A room in the city hall was also used as a school and in November 17, 1862 and a school opened in which classes were held in a rented room upstairs over the Ganz Building that stood on the north side of Sixth Street near the northwest corner of the intersection with Washington Street where the Bartell House currently stands.
On July 7, 1866, a contract was let for a school building for $7,800. The building was located at the intersection of what is now Jackson and Walnut Streets on land donated by John Sanderson. This property was outside the limits of Junction City but within the school district boundary. The first school building was known as the “School on the Hill” or the “South Building”. This building was used for only seven years. It was considered to be so far out of town that it was unsatisfactory. The building was torn down in 1873 and the stone was used for the construction of another school.
The McKinley Building, erected on a West Ninth Street site, was ready for use in October of 1872. In the fall of 1904, the Senior High School building at the corner of Sixth and Adams Streets (now the Geary County Historical Society Museum) was opened to students. In 1918, the junior high school building was erected and school opened in 1919. In 1930 the high school was moved to a new addition to the junior high school, when the McKinley and Lincoln schools were torn down to allow room for the Junior-Senior High School Building to serve students in grades seven through twelve. The structure which was built for 900 students accommodated 1,200 students the last year it was used as a Junior-Senior High School.
The new Junction City Senior High School on Eisenhower Drive was ready for use the fall of 1958. Students in grades ten through twelve attended that school. Students in grades seven through nine attended the Junior High at 300 West Ninth Street. In 1990, the Junction City Junior High School building became the Junction City Middle School for students in grades six through eight. When the new middle school at 700 Wildcat Lane was opened January 7, 2008, the building at 300 W. Ninth stood idle until 2010 when it became the Freshman Success Academy. Currently the Seventh and Eighth Grade Magnet School, JCHS alternative learning programs, Boys and Girls Club and Parents as Teachers are located in the building at 300 W. Ninth. The name of the building was changed to the H.D. Karnes Building to honor the Principal of that building from 1941-1969.
“JCHS Victory Bell”
Margie Pinaire and others are doing research on historical items at the current Junction City High School to make recommendations about including some or all in the “New JCHS” and asked if we had any information on the bell currently displayed outside the Shenk Gym. Our Geary County Historical Society, Heather Hagedorn, found this article in the Junction City Union newspaper dated Tuesday Evening; October 23, 1945. The title and subtitle of the article was:
To Build War Memorial: High School Student Council Plans To Honor Graduates In World War II.
This is some of what was written in the article: “Plans for erection of a permanent memorial honoring graduates and teachers of Junction City High School who served in World War II have been initiated by the school’s Student Council.
As planned, the memorial will be in the form of a tower or base housing a victory bell and located on the high school grounds. Thus, the bell would serve the two-fold purpose of commemorating the war service of the JCHS graduates and would also establish a new school tradition. The bell would be rung in victorious salute each time a Blue Jay team triumphed over a sports opponent. Although the plans still are indefinite, it was said to be probable that the names of the graduates and teachers who served in the war will be inscribed on the bell. An alternate possibility is that the names will be placed on plates either on or within the tower or base for the bell.
Tentative location for the memorial is the northwest corner of the campus.
The bell to be used is one already steeped in the traditions of Junction City and its schools. It originally hung in one of the first school buildings of the city, the old McKinley building, located on the southwest corner of the present high school grounds. Another building, Lincoln, faced Tenth Street and in 1918, the two old buildings were torn down and the east wing or present building was erected. At that time, the 700-pound bell was carted away and is now stored in the Washington School building.
Parents and grandparents of many JCHS students will recall the tolling of the old McKinley bell. Its peals which called students to classes were acknowledged as authentic time signals for all families within hearing distance.”