Old Arkansas City High School

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

1. Old Arkansas City High School Marker

Touch for directions.

Wichita.

Midwest,

Belt,

prairies,

Plains.

America,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Spain

Purchase.

Click or scan to see
this page online

From the National Register Nomination prepared by Richard D. Pankratz, Kansas State Historical Society, 8/14/1974:
The contractor for the project was Robert Saird, a well-known area builder from nearby Hackney. One stone mason who worked on the building was Joseph Bossi, native of Milan, Italy, who had settled on a farm southeast of Arkansas City in 1871. His neighbor Antonio Buzzi, a native of Switzerland, was also a stone mason and the two had worked together on many local buildings. It is possible that Buzzi too worked on the high school.
The Arkansas City High School was first used by students in the 1891-1892 term. The final cost was close to $38,000. Robert Baird, the contractor, reportedly went broke on this job and returned to farming; his expected profits were lost when he had to have the stone used in the basement recut and dressed the same as the outside walls.
The old Arkansas City High School is an

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

2. Old Arkansas City High School Marker

The marker is mounted just inside the front/south entrance alcove.

outstanding example of the stonecutter's art. The fine detail and workmanship evident on the exterior make it one of the city's architectural landmarks. The building is also significant to the educational development of Arkansas City, having served the community since 1890.

Excerpt:  The Old Arkansas City High School, now known as Ireland Hall and part of the Cowley Community College campus, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Construction began on July 10, 1890, and it was occupied beginning September 7, 1892, with all work done by 1893. In 1922 the high school moved to a new building, and so it served as a sixth-grade center until elementary schools absorbed the sixth grade in 1941. Cowley Community College took possession of the building in 1971. The building was renovated by the college in 1982 and renamed Ireland Hall.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

3. W.H. “Pat” Ireland Memorial
(Ireland Hall namesake)

(also mounted in the entrance alcove)
In appreciation of nearly 10 years of service
on the Board of Trustees of
Cowley County Community College
W.H. “Pat” Ireland
By action of the Board of Trustees
Dedicated December 12, 1982

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

4. Old Arkansas City High School (east elevation)

From the National Register Nomination:  It was constructed of white Silverdale limestone set in red mortar. At the time of construction, the only red color available for mortar was vermillion, which was not waterproof. As a result of rain and weather, pink streaks soon appeared on the white stone, and the stone absorbed the color. With the passage of time and continual weathering, the entire structure has acquired a rosy hue. The color has led many viewers to the mistaken conclusion that the building was made of pink Colorado sandstone.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

5. Old Arkansas City High School (southwest elevation)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

6. Old Arkansas City High School (southeast elevation)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 9, 2024

7. Old Arkansas City High School (south/front elevation)

From the National Register Nomination:
The main entrance is through a massive arched opening on the south, above which a square clock tower rises almost five stories. From study of old photographs, it appears that no clocks were ever installed, and the clock openings remained boarded up from the outset. Directly above the main entrance appear the words "High School" in raised letters and the date 1890 in carved stone insets.

A second arched entry way is located on the east side. Except for one large arched opening east of the main entrance the window openings on the first floor are simple rectangles. Those on the second floor have flat-arched openings on the east part where offices and classrooms were originally located and large rectangular openings with separated transoms on the west portion, the original auditorium. Third floor openings are generally rectangular except for arched windows in the tower and on the east and west gable.

The building's exterior displays many intricate patterns of carving, particularly on the south front. Above the main entrance on either side of the "High School" letters are carved stone animals' heads, apparently lion heads. And above the third-floor tower windows under the paired semicircular arches are two stone dragons. Intricate carved leaf decorations appear at a number of places between the windows of the first and second floors.