Our Past Is Present February 5, 2018

February 5, 2018

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            Today’s story comes from an article written by Gaylynn Childs, a former Executive Director, and was published in the local newspaper.  Similar articles are written by the current staff and published each week in the “Junction City Union” newspaper in the “Weekend Edition”.  Check the stories out each week and let us know what you think about them. 

            Here are some highlights of the article titled “Date When Wooden Staircase Removed A Mystery”.  Gaylynn wrote that “In the city’s first high school, which was built in 1903 (and is now our Museum) there was an elegant double staircase inside the main entrance.  These wooden stairs funneled students to and from an open hall on the second floor and all the way down to the restrooms in the basement.  Carved and polished banisters and railings bordered the double sets of open stairs and landings form the second floor to the main level.  Sometime after the last high school class graduated in 1929, this staircase was removed and replaced with the present cement stairwell which runs through what was originally classroom area in the building’s north end.  Apparently this change coincided with the outlawing of wooden stairs in public schools. 

            During the demolition, which took place to facilitate the restroom construction, the workers discovered a two by four stud back under the stairway which bore an inscription scrawled in July and August 1929 by Bushboom Brothers Contractors, work done by Huff Brothers Carpenters.” However, there was still no clear evidence of when the staircase had been removed. People who may have remembered the staircase from having gone to school or worked there were contacted.  Bob and Betty Waters were two who attended school there and remembered the staircase.  Doris Paulson, who worked as the school district secretary and graduated from the high school in 1929, remembered it and… there were many others.  However, no one seems to remember when it was removed.  So… the mystery remains.  If you have any recollection about this staircase and can solve our mystery, please contact the staff at 238-1666.

            And….. thanks for reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.