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UPDATED:
08/20/09
Blenheim School
71st & Olive
Principal: Jennie C. Howe
In 1838 Mr. and Mrs. Henderson brought their horses to a halt, wearily descended from their wagon, sighed with relief and drank from a bubbling spring. They had arrived from Kentucky to their new home and land in the far west. They had selected a woody knoll on which to build their home.
Mr. Henderson had received his land grant from the government and the deed to the land was signed by Martin Van Buren, the President of the United States. Only a few years later, Mr. Henderson sold the land to Coleman Younger, the father of Cole Younger, of the famous ‘Jesse James Gang’. In 1887 the property was sold to Mr. Finis C. Farr who dedicated the larger portion of the land to establish the Forest Hill Cemetery.
In 1910 a portion of the remaining land was sold to the Green Realty Co., was platted and, due to the English background of the Green family, the area was named Blenheim. It was John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, who led the English to victory at Blenheim.
In 1912, Kansas City annexed Blenheim and the surrounding territory and the Board of Education purchased the land on which Blenheim School now stands. In the fall of 1913, the first Blenheim School was opened with 21 students attending.