National and State Registers of Historic Places
Paxico Rural High School
112 Elm St
Paxico (Wabaunsee County)
Listed in National Register
Jul 21, 2022
Architect: Walter E. Glover
Category: education related
Thematic Nomination: Historic Public Schools of Kansas
Paxico Rural High School is an example of a high school from the school consolidation movement in Kansas. The school is a “town high school” type (for a population of 250 to 2000), and part of the progressive movement for schools and school consolidation. Paxico Rural High school was at the forefront of the school consolidation movement and the push for improved schools across the state. When Gov. Henry J. Allen took office in 1921, one of his goals for his term was to raise the low marks that Kansas had received nationally. Paxico was (and had been) at the forefront of trends in education and was one of the first to follow his plan. To counter the problems that the town had faced in recent years with school attendance, school officials enticed the local Catholic population with parochial elements (morning chapel, separate entrances for the sexes, etc.) to draw in the needed students; therefore, it is unique because it incorporated parochial school design elements. It is also the earliest example of a Walter E. Glover school in Kansas.
