Attucks School

Attucks School was established in 1893 in a rented building at 1827 E. 18th Street (now razed). The school was named for Crispus Attucks, an African American killed at the outset of the Revolutionary War in the Boston Massacre. The first school was opened by W.H. Williams as principal and two assistant teachers. The Attucks School operated at that location until 1894 when it moved to a new building at 2108 E. 18th Street (also razed). During the late 1890s, the population of the Paseo District continued to grow rapidly and the existing Attucks School building was deemed inadequate for its many students. In 1904, the School Board authorized the construction of a new two-story brick building to serve the area.

The property on Woodland Avenue owned by Fred Talby was purchased and construction began on a new two-story schoolhouse. The current Attucks School, designed by Charles Smith, is a two-story brick school design in the Colonial Revival style.  It was constructed in two separate stages - the original section was completed in 1905 and a two-story addition was added to the east facade in 1922 with detailing similar to that which existed on the original section.

Over the next several decades the Attucks School was one of the main grade schools for African American students in Kansas City. In 1950, the Attucks School had nearly 1,000 students, a number exceeded by only four other African American schools in the city. The Attucks School continued to be used as grade schools for all races following integration of public schools in the 1960s.

The school was listed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places on August 11, 1983 and on the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 1991.