Kim Schools
Las Animas County
Three stone buildings, a gymnasium flanked by an elementary and a high school, represent the work of several New Deal relief programs administered in eastern Colorado. Constructed over an eight-year period, the buildings provided employment in Kim during much of the Great Depression. Construction on the gymnasium began in December 1933 as a Civil Works Administration project. It was completed in the spring of 1935 after being transferred to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and finished by a Works Progress Administration project. The school district submitted a successful WPA application for the 1937 elementary school. The WPA approved a third project in 1938 for the county high school building, which was dedicated in January 1941.
Kim Schools (1999 photograph.)
These were the first substantial education buildings constructed in Kim. Built from locally quarried stone with framing materials salvaged from buildings demolished at Fort Lyon, they are excellent examples of New Deal Rustic design with craftsmanship, materials, and construction methods reflecting their origin as public works programs designed to provide employment. The three buildings remain the center of local education and community activities. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission.