1882 one room Plymouth schoolhouse

OLD SCHOOL OF THE DAY

1882 one room Plymouth schoolhouse

Road B2

Plymouth, Kansas

Plymouth is an unincorporated community in Lyon County, Kansas, one of the oldest settlements in the county. It is technically also an extinct town.  The first to arrive was C. Humphrey in 1857. He was followed by John Smith, C. Stout, John Carter, E. Parker, and others. John Carter, a Quaker from North Carolina, built the first house in Plymouth. Plymouth was platted and laid out in 1858 and probably gained its name from Plymouth, Massachusetts.  The post office was established on February 10, 1858, with D. McMillan appointed the first Postmaster. In 1859, C. Humphrey opened the first store.  When the Civil War started in 1861, the men of Plymouth formed a militia.

     The first school opened in 1862, by Mary, and it was kept in a private dwelling, Barbara Campbell’s house across the street from the Carter house, until 1864 when a schoolhouse was erected. Miss Mary Hammer or Hammis was the first teacher, and Mrs. Ella Spencer was the second.  During the same year, religious services were held by J. Steel, at the house of Mrs. Campbell.  A sawmill was also built that year by Townsend and Campbell. Later, a grist mill was also built. Before the railroad arrived, stagecoaches stop for meals at John Carter’s home and quench their thirst from the well house, next to Carter’s spacious house. Plymouth was located in the midst of rich farming land and transacted more business annually, for its size, than any point in the county.

     The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad arrived in Lyon County in 1870 and soon Plymouth became a way station and shipping point on the line.  In 1882, a new schoolhouse was built. It is unknown when the school closed, but the white clapboard school, with its old belfry, broken sidewalk, and playground equipment still stands today.  It is a fine structure made of wood with a row of eight windows on the west side and none on the east. A cupola where the bell used to ring sits precariously atop the slanted roof. Stone cutters carved large limestone rocks to make a walkway to the front door.

     By 1910, Plymouth had telegraph and express offices and a money order post office with one rural route. At this time it continued to be a shipping and receiving point for a large farming area. Its population was 100.  Of life in 1929, Mrs. French said that In Plymouth village was a well built schoolhouse, referring to the school that was built in 1882. However, in the next years, the community declined and the post office closed on February 31, 1930.  Today, the community, along with its historic one-room school, is comprised of a number of scattered homes. Area students are serviced by the Emporia USD 253 public school district. There is precious little to be found about the Plymouth Schoolhouse. Today, the door is locked, the windows shuttered, the schoolhouse stands alone, but well tended, hoping for a new coat of paint.