The History of our Public Schools
Wyandotte County, Kansas

 

 

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Franklin School Picture Gallery

Location:

• 12th and Metropolitan (also listed as Holly Street and Metropolitan Ave)
• 1912 City Directory:  Metropolitan Ave, sw corner Holly (Mark Howe, principal)

Built:  1893

Building Closed: End of 1972-73 school year.

Building Sold: 1979

Mar 2003:  Currently the Franklin Center operates as a neighborhood center.  You might want to take a look at their web site.

Online Information - KC Planning & Urban Land Development

Architectural Blue Prints and/or Plot Plan of School Building

 

Children of this Argentine School had attended a Lowell School in that city. Four names were suggested for the school built in 1898 - Greeley. Franklin, Irving, and Whittier. The problem was solved by selling votes at 5¢ apiece to the people of the district. The name Franklin won and the school bought a new flag with the money received from the voters.

SUMMARY

1893 - May 5: Argentine school board purchased from Kansas Town Company, Lots 11-18, Block 9, at Holly and Metropolitan.

June 16: Foundation begun. All labor and material from Argentine.

September: School occupied. Four rooms, four teachers for eight grades. Miss Alice Beckwith, first Principal. T. J. Jarvis, first custodian.

Four names suggested: Greeley, Franklin, Irving, Whittier. People paid 5¢ to vote. Money to buy first flag and name of Franklin chosen.

School named after Benjamin Franklin.

NOTE:  From the Historical and Architectural Survey, KC Planning & Zoning, Phase 4, 1994:  South 14th Street and Metropolitan Avenue. Architect unknown.  Benjamin Franklin Elementary School was constructed in the then-separate town of Argentine in 1893, with two additions designed by Rose and Peterson in 1910 and 1923, after Argentine had become part of Kansas City, Kansas. Executed in stone, and influenced by the Romanesque style, this building features a main entrance and three first story windows placed within rounded arches with exaggerated voussoirs. The massiveness of the stone emphasizes the solidity and permanence of the structure. The pyramidal roof dormer, approximating a tower, adds a uniqueness to the design, and suggests that Rose may have been the original architect.

1910 - July 25: Contract for six-room addition to Thompson and Fixley.  Franklin School became a part of the KCKs school district.

1912 - First PTA President, Mrs. George Drake.

1914 - Additional land purchased.

1920 - Addition planned.

1923 - To have four-room addition.

1951 - Overall history on this school's involvement with the 1951 flood.

On July 18, permission was granted the U. S. Corps Engineers, under Major Lochman, to establish a field office at the Franklin School.  Mr. H. F. McKeniff is in charge. Space has also been made available at the school for the office of Reno Construction Company and the L. G. Barcus & Sons for field offices.  The playground is to be used for storing equipment and we have been assured any damage will be repaired.

1972-73 - School closed at end of school year. Students sent to Emerson.

1979 - Building sold to Franklin Center, Inc. a non-profit corporation for social services. Deed contains a reversionary clause in transfer.

PRINCIPALS

1898 - Alice Beckworth / 1899-1900 - E T Potter / 1901 - Charles W Meyer / 1902 - Alice Beckworth / 1903-1905 - Katherine Kleinknecht / 1906-1908 - Mable Turner / 1909 - Margaret Cathcart / 1910-1922 - Mark M Howe / 1923-1935 - Harriett Mann / 1936 - Lola McNaughton / 1937-39 - Esther Erickson / 1940-1942 / Marie Brotherson / 1943 - Martha Bucher / 1944-1947 - Helen Mae Parks / 1948-1955 - Alice Barnett / 1946-1965 - Zella Rough / 1966 - Ruth Wentler / 1967 - Elizabeth Chittenden / 1968-1970 - Alice Barnett / 1971-72 - Gwen Daniel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Contact the History Webmaster - Patricia Adams

History Site created on December 02, 2002
Page last updated: 02-Jan-2012