You’ve located another stop in this set of geocaches that are part of the Visit Abilene Kansas Geotour, find them all, complete your passport and earn your trackable Geocoin.
This lovely green space is a hotbed of educational buildings in Abilene! Nearest the cache was once the location of Abilene High School where Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated, and is adjacent to the old Garfield Elementary School.
The four-room Central School was built on the location in 1874. It was enlarged in 1882 and at some point, was renamed Garfield in honor of assassinated President James A. Garfield. After it was condemned by the state fire marshal in 1940, city voters approved a bond election to build the 1942 Garfield school using WPA (Works Progress Administration) labor.
Garfield officially closed in December 2015, after the construction of a new, more modern and larger school, Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School, was completed less than a mile away. The classrooms of the old elementary school were recently converted into apartments for local seniors, some of which, attended and worked at the school! This location is a great example of how Abilene is maintaining its historical integrity!