Petals falling from a Rose

The tiny town of Rose was once known as 'the hay metropolis of the world.' There's not much left of the town now, but its history falls like petals over those who visit.

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March 8, 2021 - 9:22 AM

The iconic Pleasant Valley schoolhouse sits along US Highway 75, south of Yates Center. Photo by Trevor Hoag / Iola Register

Standing between the Pleasant Valley cemetery and schoolhouse in southern Woodson County, I lost myself in the immensity of the sky.

Always looking, looking … but for what?

According to the sign above the doorway, the sandstone schoolhouse has been surveying this same horizon since 1881, but the district is even older.

First known as “The Brush School,” as it convened in Alva Brush’s house, District 18 had its start in 1867 in a little room about a mile to the north.

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