Troost
Troost Avenue School
60th & Forest
Principal: Ida Good
Troost Avenue School was one of two school buildings located in a rural School District in Jackson County, Missouri. The first building, a one room school frame structure located at 63rd Street and Wornall Road, was known by the name of “Border Star” School – having adopted the name of a Kansas City newspaper which was destroyed during the Civil War.
As population increased in the district it became necessary to provide more school room. This was brought about by the Board of Directors, composed of four gentlemen who bought a plot of ground located on Troost Avenue at 60th Street in 1906.
Immediately, a four room brick building was erected and named the Troost Avenue School because of its location on that important thoroughfare. On September 17, 1906, with two teachers and eighty-six students, classes were formed and the school started on its journey. The first graduating class was in 1908 and consisted of 4 boys and 4 girls. Graduates had to travel to Independence, MO to receive their diplomas.
During the first five years of its existence the school had grown to capacity, requiring four teachers to care for the 140 students in attendance.
During the month of September, 1911, the school was taken into the Kansas City School District.
Troost Avenue, as it is now known, was named after Dr. Benoist L. G. Troost, M. D., the first physician to live in Jackson County. Dr. Troost was born in Bois Le Duc, Holland on November 17, 1786, when Holland was controlled by France under Napoleon. After coming to this country, Dr. Troost eventually chose to live in Jackson County. One of his incentives to live in the Kansas City area was due to a French settlement, then known as Westport Landing.