Oak Grove School District No. 20

Oak Grove School District No. 20. . , Oak Grove, District No. 20, was established in 1867 in Lincoln Township, Neosho County, the same year that the two neighboring counties of Neosho and Labette were formed from what was originally the single county of Dorn. Oak Grove was thus one of the oldest of more than 200 school districts that would eventually populate the combined area of Neosho and Labette counties. The first Oak Grove schoolhouse was a log structure located one half mile northeast of here (in Section 25, Twp 30S, Range 20E) with a cemetery adjacent to the school (see link to findagrave.com record of Old Oak Grove Cemetery at QR code below right). Remnants of the cemetery remain, but the log schoolhouse is gone. The stone schoolhouse here was built in 1877 (in Section 36, Twp 30S, Range 20E). The new cemetery on this site (see record of Oak Grove Cemetery at QR code below center) has been in use since the early 1870's (while the earlier cemetery in Section 25 ceased to be used after 1876). Here rest many pioneers of the early Oak Grove community. Names include the Padgett family (donors of the 1877 school property), Hiram Humphrey (donor of the new cemetery site), and George Hewitt (earliest recorded school board chair). , Throughout the years Oak Grove was used for more than just a school. It was a center of social, political, and religious activity in Lincoln Township and the Neosho/Labette county line area. One example of its popularity was a Sunday School picnic held here in 1904 - more than two thousand people were in attendance. Oak Grove was last used as a school in the academic year of 1959-1960. We hope that as you visit this site you may feel of the unique spirit of American history that is represented here. And as you do, may you treat this property with the reverence and respect that it deserves. We invite you to learn more at http://oakgroveschoolhouse.org (see QR code below left).