The old Manchester school was located at what is now the northwest corner of 16th Terrace and Bristol (facing Bristol) on a knoll overlooking the Blue Valley as far north as 12th and south toward Leeds. Several railroads were built in the valley and these were followed by factories, for which the district is especially well adapted. Manchester was one of three schools in the Ashland District and did not become a part of the Kansas City school system until February of 1899, when the municipal limits were extended to that area. The three schools, Manchester, Kensington and Ashland, were built by bonds voted, $50,000 for the three, and the schools served the patrons until the territory was taken into the city. Thereafter each of the three schools gave way to a modern building. The new Manchester was erected north the west of the original site, at 6839 Truman Road, and was occupied in 1920. Here night classes were held for adults of the district. Teachers from the Jane Hayes Gates School taught women sewing and millinery. During the winter months of the mid-1920s the new building was used for classes for persons unable to speak the English language. A PTA report of June 12, 1922, stated: The nearness to Blue Valley factories, many which employed foreigners, makes these language classes a feature to many, and good results have been attained. Today the Blue Valley Library, a branch of the Kansas City School District Public Library system, is located in the Manchester school. The photographic post card of old Manchester was made in 1913 by Charles Czajkowski, a school patron. His daughter, Clara, now Mrs. J. Wilk of 1846 Ewing, was a pupil at the school. Kansas City Times, September 1, 1973.
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