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Phelps School

Hwy. 96 at County Rd UU, Phelps, MO
Phone:

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This was the third one-room schoolhouse to serve the Phelps community, but the first at this location. The school was built in 1888 and stands next to what would become Route 66 some 38 years later. It is one of the last one-room schoolhouses still standing in the area. It served as a school until 1952 after which it served as a community center until it closed in 1980.

GPS: 37.190159, -93.905399

Starting in 2014 the building was restored by local residents and once again serves as a community center. A small star carved by the Union Civil War veterans organization Grand Army of the Republic is located next to of the doors on the front of the building

This is a picture from 2012 before the little schoolhouse was restored.

When the school was built the road out front was the Springfield to Carthage Road. In 1922 it became part of a "Primary Road" project that created State Road 14 running from St. Louis to Joplin. That road was paved about 10 - 12 feet in front of the schoolhouse, That paved road became the original Route 66 and is still in place today. Today it serves as a sort of service road for Hwy. 96 which was the result of realigning the Route 66 through Phelps in 1955 by moving the road a few feet farther south.

The schoolhouse is located on Hwys. 96 and UU, where County Road 2059 meets Hwy. 96 in Phelps.

Photo(s): 2012, 2016