The Langdon School building as it exists today.
By Matthew Barnes
This week’s edition of “School Days Gone By” will cover the Langdon School District.
The land in the southwest corner of Atchison County is that of fertile bottom ground. In the pioneer days this land was some of the most densely populated part outside of the towns. Early classes were held in the home of Phillip Thompson in what is today Langdon. The school operated on a subscription basis, and was known as Gumbo College, the teacher of the eloquently named institution being Burdie Perrin. In 1874, the Langdon School and the LaHue School south of town were organized. By 1880 LaHue School had changed its name to Excelsior.
The enrollment climbed steadily in both districts. In 1895, there were 95 students enrolled in the Excelsior district and 85 in Langdon. To address the issue of overcrowding, the Excelsior district was partitioned into two new districts known as Benton Center and New Excelsior. The old Excelsior building became a barn. Around that time Langdon also built a new building to cope with growth.
No high school was ever established at Langdon. Although there was interest in consolidating Langdon, Benton Center, and New Excelsior in the twenties for the purpose of establishing a high school, those plans never materialized.
By the 1940s the current school system in the county was no longer sustainable. Enrollment had fallen sharply in rural areas, there was a shortage of teachers, and the state’s ever increasing requirements to operate. While most schools in the county that consolidated did so to offer a better education for their students, Langdon did so as to preserve their school. On April 1, 1947, the Langdon, Benton Center, and New Excelsior school boards voted to be annexed into the Langdon district. The following year the new district attempted to annex West Bend, a longtime rival of Langdon. The West Bend District fought fervently to prevent the annexation and won out in the end.
In 1948, the school board voted to build a new schoolhouse. It is unknown how the new school was funded as no bond issue was ever passed. The building was to be of brick, two stories tall with three classrooms, an office, and a common room. The old school sites were sold and classes were held in the new building for the first time in the fall of 1948 under the supervision of two teachers.
When reorganization came to Atchison County, Langdon was included in the proposed Rock Port R-II School District. The proposition failed and the district continued to operate grades 1-8. In 1953, the proposition was again made, this time passing overwhelmingly, and the Langdon district ceased to exist. The Langdon school continued to operate as an elementary school for grades 1-6 until 1961.
In 1960, the Rock Port district began the effort to consolidate their classes to Rock Port. Additions made to the Rock Port school in 1961 and 1965 allowed most students to be transported to Rock Port. However, to prevent overcrowding the district elected to keep the Langdon school open. This was due to the Langdon school being fairly new, having amenities such as running water and a full kitchen.
Rock Port initially used the Langdon school for its newly created kindergarten program. The school was later used as a fifth grade building and as a sixth grade building. In 1971 a new addition was completed at the Rock Port school and as a result, the Langdon school was closed and the building sold to a fertilizer company. While the school currently exists in a dilapidated state, the many fond memories of Langdon elementary live on in the memories of the students who went there.
