New historians emerging at FSHS

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo Brian Allen, automotive teacher and history club sponsor at Fort Scott High School, discusses with club members an old black-and-white film on Fort Scott history during activity period Tuesday at the high school. The history club meets once a month.

The next generation of Fort Scott and Bourbon County historians could be sitting in a classroom at Fort Scott High School.

The history club at the high school consists of a group of students who meet once a month to focus on the historical aspects of Fort Scott and Bourbon County. Brian Allen, the club's sponsor and automotive teacher at the high school, guides students through a different topic at each meeting. Allen, a history buff, brings in films, photos and other relics for students to learn about the area's history.

"It creates a dialogue," Allen said. "We watch movies of their town. I've brought in bus tokens, badges, things like that. We have kind of a show and tell."

Allen said a 1953 photo of a portion of downtown Fort Scott, which hangs in his classroom where the history club meets, spurred interest by students in starting the club up about two years ago. The photo shows North Main Street and the Market Street area where the Fort Scott National Historic Site is located, as it looked more than 60 years ago. While some of the buildings still remain, several businesses and buildings, particularly in the Market Street area, disappeared in the 1970s after "urban renewal," Allen said.

The photo shows Main Street running one way, the opposite of its current direction, with vehicles parked facing south instead of north. Allen said this changed later to direct people to the historic site at the end of Main Street.

FSHS senior Chris Johnson, club president, said the club "became a real club" last year after Allen and a few students gauged interest in the club and it drew a large following. FSHS senior Eddie Hall, the club's vice president, said the club "used to meet at lunch."

"We needed to prove there was interest to keep it going," Johnson said. "Word got out and we got more students interested."

Both students said club meetings are focused on the history of Fort Scott. Club members meet to discuss various buildings in Fort Scott, watch slide shows and plan club research projects. Recent club meetings have focused on the history of railroads and all of the churches in Fort Scott, Johnson said.

"I enjoy learning about the history of the town," Johnson said. "It used to be a pretty nice city."