South of the Border: "Whitlash School, 1897-2019: provided a century-plus of learning"

Columnist's note: This past July the old Whitlash School was sold by sealed bid. That concluded more than a century of providing elementary education to students in the Whitlash area. Students now attend school in Chester.

The history of the school is one of many examples how the pioneers and subsequent generations adapted to deal with the needs in rural communities. The Whitlash School hung on longer than most pioneer schools. Locals devised ways to acquire physical space for the school and keep it operating. A decreasing population of students caused the demise of the school.

Here's some of what I learned about the Whitlash School's history, how Liberty Hall, the century old community center, will benefit from the sale of the school and some plans the new owners have to repurpose the school site.

A short history of Whitlash School

In 1897 Whitlash School District No. 27 was carved from a larger district that included the Sweet Grass Hills. A school was started in Whitlash-the townsite at that time was about a mile west of the present community. That school was called Pleasant View School.

The first school was in a log cabin. The school population grew and the log cabin in the old townsite was replaced by a new, larger building constructed in 1904 by Lester Stott and John Brown. It was called Sunnyside School and was later put on skids so it could be placed where it was accessible to the most students. In the 1930's the school building was on the Thompson ranch about two miles southeast of present day Whitlash. By the 1940's the school was back in the current townsite.

An early Border Patrol facility was south and east of Whitlash in the Gold Butte area. At some point it was decided to build a new complex for the Border Patrol in Whitlash. That facility included two identical buildings, one an office and the other to house agents, plus a seven-stall garage for the vehicles used by the agents.

In the early 1970's a border crossing facility was built at the border, six miles north of Whitlash. The Border Patrol site and land in Whitlash was declared surplus and went to the local school board. The Whitlash school moved to the old Border Patrol site in the early 1970's and functioned there until the school closed.

Sometime after the school took over the site the west building burned. That teacherage was replaced by a house brought from the Shell Camp five miles north of Whitlash. The old Bear Gulch School was brought to the site in Whitlash and used for kindergarten through third grade with fourth through eighth grades in the remaining Border Patrol building.

Whitlash School officially closed in May, 2014. Asked why the school closed, Dan Kultgen, who was serving as the school board president at the time said, "Basically, we ran out of students to attend the school." Kultgen attended the school himself (1974-1982) through eighth grade. His daughter was one of the last two students to attend Whitlash School during the school's final year, 2011-2012.

Kultgen explained, "For two years we technically kept the school open, meaning there was no school but we could start up again as everything was still in place." There were inquiries from Canadian families with young children who would soon be starting school. "In years past," Kultgen noted, "we had Canadian children coming to the Whitlash School but nothing came of the recent inquiries."

By state law abandoned school property goes to the closest school district, in this case District 48 (Chester-Joplin-Inverness). The Chester district gave the Whitlash school property to the Liberty Hall board. Liberty Hall, built more than a century ago, was and is used for various community functions. The Hall lost some of its annual financial support for upkeep when it was no longer used for school functions.

Sale of the school in 2019.

The directors of Liberty Hall voted to sell the school property by sealed bids. The bids were opened on July 22, 2019. The property includes, 11.92 +/- acres, three school buildings plus a two car garage and various equipment. The existing water system supplies both the school property and Liberty Hall. Dan and Vicki Kultgen who live in Whitlash were the successful bidders.

What's next for Liberty Hall and Whitlash School?

Bob Thompson, the Secretary/Treasurer of Liberty Hall said, "Our first goal is to drill a new water well for the Hall. The current water system is interconnected with the old school site." He is hopeful work to drill a new well can start soon.

New school site owners Vicki and Dan Kultgen hope to preserve the school building. Vicki said, "We want to keep the school classroom and library intact as an historic school building." Dan added by keeping the old school functional it might serve some future educational purpose. He added, "We're already upgrading the playground equipment for use by local kids and visitors."

Vicki Kultgen is postmaster at the post office next door and explained that visitors passing through Whitlash often stop by and ask to look inside the old school. The Bear Gulch School building will be the workshop for Vicki's sign business, "Broken Mountains Signs." She creates specialty signs for home decorating.

The Border Patrol facility, more recently the Whitlash school for the last fifty years, is being repurposed and will continue to serve the community.