Piedmont High School and Piedmont Main Street as it looks today

[Janet Harrington]

Here are two pictures.  One is of the Piedmont High School building as it sits today.  The gym, that has been kept up, is on the right.

The second picture is of a deserted building that sits south of the Post Office.  The Post Office is still in business.

Maybe someone can give us some info on the high school and tell us what the building south of the Post Office used to be.

[Marcia Moore]

The Piedmont school district voted bonds June 26, 1909 to build a new $6,000 brick school house.  Construction began on the red brick school building in late October 1909.  By the end of June 1910, the building, said to be one of the finest public school buildings in this part of Kansas, was almost completed.  The two story building was built of the best brick and was large enough to accommodate all the surrounding districts when they felt like consolidating and establishing a high school.  The rooms downstairs were about to be finished up to accommodate pupils of the district, and the upstairs rooms, would be finished soon after, and be ready for school in the fall.     

[Marcia Moore]

I used to know what the building south of the post office was but now I can't remember - possibly it was the Piedmont State Bank building?

[Wilma]

I thought it was the old post office.  Kate Rader could tell you.

[Wilma]

For those of you who are not familiar with Piedmont, this is not all of Main Street.  There is also the Methodist church, another church, a fairly new building that houses memorabilia from the high school and Lila's Cafe.  I am not sure what if anything is still on the west side of the street.  It has been some time since I have been there.

[frawin]

The old building next to the Post Office was Dr. Yandell's office.  He was the doctor in Piedmont and had a wooden leg.  Margaret Gragg grew up near Piedmont and she said the kids were always fastinated watching him work his leg.  The Post Office now is where the bank was.  Margaret told me that when the "new" high school was completed (she attended school there) that the lower grades were on the ground floor and the high school was on the second story.  My aunt was in the first graduating class from that building.

I remember growing up there were two grocery stores, a hardware store, a barber shop, a funeral home, a cafe, the telephone office, Garner's Chevrolet, & 2 or 3 garages.  Darrel & Juanita (Bruton) Yandell had a Skelly filling station  out on the highway and he also delivered gasoline to area farmers.  His Mother lived in town in one of those white houses on the east side of the street.  She was a very sweet person.

The church on the east side of the street was the Christain church.  I thought it still was today.  There is another building just to the east of that church that faces the south that was also a church.

The newer building (just to the south of Lila's) is the Community center.  It does house the pictures of the Piedmont grads.

The train also passed through and farmers would take cream in and put it on the train to the creamery.  I don't remember where it was shipped to, but I can remember taking cream in and going back to ship more and pick up the empty ones.  In fact, I have one of the cream cans my
grandad used.

One last note--the gravel road that goes between Severy & Piedmont (known as old 96) was originally called Ozark Trail.  Later became 96 highway, then the highway moved north (96) and of course, is now known as 400.

mlw

[Wilma]

The newer building to the east of the Christian Church was an Assembly of God Church in 1948.  Also, at that time, there was a newer building east of the high school that housed the grade school..

[frawin]

That's right, but I believe the grade school bldg. is no longer there.  I was speaking of when the "high school" bldg. was new.  Margaret said she was in school there,  I didn't ask here what grade she was in, but could probably figure it out as she graduated in a class with another of my aunts.
Myrna

[Wilma]

I graduated in 1948 and Margaret was well ahead of me.  I entered school there in December of 1947 and graduated in 1948, married a neighbor boy, lived fairly close to both sets of parents the rest of the year, then moved to Ottawa County early in 1949.  Settled in Severy in 1954 where we raised our family.  I never got all that familiar with Piedmont or the people there.  My folks lived south of Piedmont from 1947 to when Mother moved to Haysville in 1985.

[frawin]

I think Margaret told us that last year was her 75th year out of school.  I've seen that picture that hangs in Piedmont many times.  I believe they graduated in 1931,   I believe that my aunt taught her first year right out of high school the fall of 1931 & the spring of 1932 at High Hill SE of Howard.  She graduated whenshe was 16, and was married in1933.

I know exactly where you lived as it wasn't too far from where I grew uo.  I know Geo. & Cleo and in fact, Cleo's sister Joyce was in my high school class but didn't graduate with us.  Pat married a girl that was a grade ahead of me in high school.

Th other aunt I mentiomed graduated from Piedmont in 1925.