The Storied History of the Clearfield Schoolhouse
(Photos below story)
The Clearfield School District may be the second oldest school established in Douglas County. The current Clearfield One Room Schoolhouse building (2162 North 600 Road) dates to the 1900s. The school had various names and numbers, was relocated, and finally restored with its missing bell tower replaced this year.
The school was part of the Clearfield community which centered around the Clearfield Church located at North 600 and East 2000 Roads. The church was formed by German immigrants in 1858. The school may have been established as early as 1852 when the area was Shawnee Reservation Land before Kansas became a territory. The first log cabin schoolhouse was built by the community about three-fourths of a mile east of the current church building and measured 30 x 36 feet. It contained rows of benches on either side of a center aisle and seated ten students on each side. When more students attended than could fit into the seats, the boys sat on the floor. Early records show 60-85 or more students attending this school in the late 1890s! A picture from the 1890s shows this building with a sign reading “District #24” over the door. Its log walls had been covered by weatherboard siding.
A new, larger schoolhouse was built around 1900. Clearfield’s classes had been taught in German since its early days. As more English-speaking people came to live in the community, disagreements arose regarding school matters. It appears that the disagreements were resolved around 1900. The name of the school was changed to “Union” at the end of the 1901-1902 school year. By 1908, however, the name had reverted to Clearfield School, and it now was District #58.
Around 1907, attendance continued at over ninety. The community decided to move the school one mile west to its current location. They opened a second school (Pleasant Oak #45) 1½ miles east of the church. Clearfield Schoolhouse was pulled down North 600 Road by a steam engine tractor and logs were placed under the building to roll it along. Cheering students followed the building!
After its relocation, attendance lowered into the forties. The school continued classes into the late 1940s. It closed in 1950 and the Clearfield Grange took over the building. By 1991, the schoolhouse building’s future looked bleak. It was either to be bulldozed or become a storage facility for hay. Enter Ron and Linda Wright. Ron and his family had been members of the Clearfield community for generations with Selzer and Chanay ancestors. Several of them had attended the schoolhouse, including his mother. The Wrights hoped to preserve this historical building, so they formed the Clearfield Community Historical Society. The Clearfield Grange deeded the building to the Wrights.
Before restoration began, a few “residents” of the schoolhouse had to be relocated. A family of racoons was found living in the ceiling. A six-foot-tall bee colony was found between the interior and exterior rear walls of the building. The colony found a new home with the help of a professional beekeeper. Volunteers rewired, painted, and repaired the foundation, tin ceiling, walls, and more.
In 2014, the schoolhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The missing bell tower was replaced in 2023, with funds from an ARPA grant obtained by Santa Fe Trail Historical Society of Douglas County. The old school bell has been replaced and can now be rung by pulling on a rope – just like in the early days of the school!
Please visit Clearfield Schoolhouse during the Kaw Valley Farm Tour and watch for other events being held here!
— Marta Jardon, August 2024, Updated Jan. 2025
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- First printed in The Maple magazine (part of the Baldwin weekly newspaper family).
- Reprinted with permission.
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PHOTOS
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Clearfield Schoolhouse in 2022 – before bell tower restoration
