Kansas Historical Society

At its regular quarterly meeting held at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka on Saturday, May 9, the Historic Sites Board of Review voted to forward eight nominations to the office of the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C., to be evaluated by its professional staff. If staff members concur with the board’s findings, the properties will be included in the National Register.

The National Register of Historic Places is the country’s official list of historically significant properties. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources. Eligible properties must be significant for one or more of the four criteria for evaluation. Properties can be eligible if they are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. They can be eligible if they are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. Distinctive construction can qualify properties for the National Register if they embody the characteristic of a type, period, or method of construction, or represent the work of a master, or possess high artistic values, or represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. Lastly, properties may be eligible for the National Register if they have yielded or may be likely to yield information important in prehistory or history. The National Register recognizes properties of local, statewide, and national significance.

The Register of Historic Kansas Places is our state’s official list of historically significant properties. Properties included in the National Register are automatically listed in the State Register. However, not all properties listed in the State Register are included in the National Register. The same general criteria are used to assess the eligibility of a property for inclusion in the state register, but more flexibility is allowed in the interpretation of the criteria for eligibility.

National Register of Historic Places Nominations include:

Grant School – 520 W 12th Street, Goodland, Sherman County

Grant School was built in 1926 to relieve overcrowding at other public schools in Goodland. It served the community as an elementary school from 1926 to 1969 and then as a junior high school until 2015. The opening of Grant School coincided with the addition of Kindergarten to the district’s curriculum, resulting in the district’s first purpose-built Kindergarten classroom. The school, which exhibits the Late Gothic Revival style, was designed by Hutchinson-based architects Mann and Company, a firm known for its designs of schools.

The school reflects traditional elements of the Gothic Revival style with its variegated red brick exterior, stone detailing, multiple gable roofs and dormers, stone quoining, and central tower. The building reflects Progressive-era tenets of school design with a combined auditorium and gymnasium space and specialized classrooms.

It is nominated as part of the Historic Public Schools of Kansas multiple property nomination for its local significance in the areas of education and architecture.

(Pictures courtesy Kansas Historical Society)