Cato School to host its annual fall tour on Nov. 8

Fall leaves swirl around the steps leading up to the front of the old schoolhouse. Sunlight glints off its new windows. The historic Cato School has never looked better as it awaits visitors for the annual Cato Fall Tour.

The Cato Historical Preservation Association has organized its upcoming fall tour, which will include living history presentations at the old stone one-room schoolhouse, depictions of frontier life in the mid-1800s, interpretations of music from the time period, and historical re-enactments of the town's early settlers by area volunteers. The tour, which is set to begin at 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 8, also includes an old-fashioned hot dog roast and a hayride to historical cemeteries and other sites in Cato and surrounding areas. Cato is a small town in northern Crawford County near Arcadia and is the oldest town in Crawford County.

The guest speaker for the event will be local historian and musician Ralph Carlson, a member of the local musical duo Fuss and Feathers with partner James "Red" Stradley. Carlson has spent years studying the Southeast Kansas region and the Cato area. Fuss and Feathers, along with local residents Don and Mim Carlson, will also perform music at the Cato Church, which was built in 1915 and located on adjoining land just west of the Cato School. Local residents Anna Portwood and Elizabeth Portwood will be dressed as 19th century schoolmarms to present an 1860s-style class in the schoolhouse.

The fall tour will also include a silent auction of a print by Arcadia artist Fannie Mae Turner. The print depicts a scene featuring the old Peter Smith store in Cato, a building that was destroyed by fire in 1996. A drawing will also be conducted for a quilt designed by area resident Sue James. The quilt will be given away in a drawing during the tour. Tickets for the drawing are available now from any CHPA member for a $1 donation, or six tickets for $5.

Other Cato memorabilia that will be available during the tour include digital video discs of previous Cato tours; note cards of the Cato area that feature drawings and photos by CHPA members Barbara Scott and Susie Stelle; pencil drawings of places of interest in Cato completed by Don Carlson; paperweights and postcards featuring Cato locations; and a video documentary of Cato and its early settlers, which was created in memory of Cato historian and storyteller John Spurling, who originated the idea for the Cato fall tour. Spurling, who had researched and documented much of Cato's history, died in 2003.

The CHPA, a non-profit organization, has worked the last several years to restore and preserve the Cato School, and have received much assistance along the way. In May, the group received a $15,360 Heritage Trust Fund Grant from the Kansas State Historical Society to repair and replace six old, wooden six-layer windows in the schoolhouse, a project that should be completed by next summer, CHPA member Susie Stelle said.

The CHPA has also received donations from area resident Randy Coonrod, who is a descendant of one of the original founders of Cato and a benefactor for the CHPA, Stelle said.

The school has undergone several renovation projects and now includes a new roof and concrete steps, new doors and repaired walls, a new chimney and soffit, and a new facade. Plans are in the works to install heating and cooling equipment and electrical wiring in the building within the next year, Stelle said. The Cato School was listed on the Kansas Register of Historic Places in 2005, and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The town of Cato was founded in 1854 by United States Army Capt. John Rogers and was part of Bourbon County until Crawford County was formed in 1867. The town has the distinction of being the site of the first grist mill in Crawford County, the first coal mining operation and the first school in Crawford County, and the first Crawford County fair. The Cato schoolhouse was built in 1869 and served as a schoolhouse and meeting house until the mid-1950s. More information about the history of Cato and the Cato School can be found online at www.catoschool.com.

Cato is located between Fort Scott and Pittsburg about 8 miles west of Arcadia on the Bourbon County line.