L'Dora School - The Single Room School House

July 24, 2021

By Seth McFarland

 

On the grounds of the Santa Fe Trail Center are several historic and reconstructed buildings styled after historic structures of Pawnee County. Two of the buildings came from the former village of Frizell, Kansas located just south of the historic Fort Larned. 

 

Fort Larned was decommissioned and sold in 1883 to Frank Sage who represented the Pawnee Valley Stock Breeders Association. By 1886, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad went through, and a railroad siding was built and named Sage in honor of Frank Sage. 

 

By 1883, L'Dora was designated as District No. 53. By 1889, the school was completed, but burned in 1906. After it was rebuilt, it was renamed L'Dora in honor of the wife of E.E. Frizell. Mr. Frizell purchased the abandoned fort buildings in 1902, and had the station named changed to Frizell. As a respected man of the area, he was also a state legislator, along with being a rancher and entrepreneur. He was also responsible for developing the community which included a depot, filling station, elevator, post office, store and school. The post office was built in 1904. 

 

By 1965, L'Dora was only one of two remaining one-teacher schools operating in Pawnee County. The student roster also included the name of Milburn Stone who portrayed "Doc" on the television series "Gunsmoke". 1965 would be the last year for classes in the school. 

 

By the early 1970's, to protect the historic buildings of the Frizell Depot and L'Dora School, efforts were made by the Fort Larned Historical Society to relocate the buildings to the future site of the Santa Fe Trail Center at the cost of $850.00. 

 

The school has undergone regular upkeep, and the railroad depot was renovated in 2012 using the original blueprints from 1929. The Santa Fe Trail Center still hosts reunions for the former students of L'Dora.