Arvonia Historic Preservation Society

Goal: $30,000.00

Specific Need

Our historic buildings have a social attachment to many and deep cultural relevance to others.  The historic buildings represent the first settlements of the Welsh immigrants in Kansas and the importance of education, religion and community fellowship.  The buildings' preservation rekindles the hopes and ideals of the community and the ongoing efforts to live up to them and preserve the Welsh culture and heritage. We have been blessed with achieving our goal of raising funds for exterior restoration of the Arvonia School, Calvinistic Methodist Church and Arvonia Township Hall.

Arvonia Historic Preservation Society has restored the school and church to their past historic integrity, thanks to hard work, dedication and generous donors.  The township hall has been restored with additions of plumbing, a bathroom, and septic system. The exterior work on the church and township hall have been completed.  Roofs were replaced on the school, church and township hall due to hail damage in 2021.  A wheel chair ramp was added at the township hall.  The trim was painted on all of the buildings and new screens were made for the church.

We are honored that on Labor Day 2023 the North American Festival of Wales chose to have a tour to Arvonia. The bus tour, with 30 plus tourists,  began in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the event was held this year. The tour was a huge success.  With the help of local history museums we were able to provide information to the director of the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre for a  presentation he did for the Cattlemen's Ball in Nebraska on Welsh Cattle Barron's of Kansas.  Information is now on display at the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Museum.  

 We will host our annual Christmas Candlelight Service on December 6th. The Arvonia Summer Kickoff will be May 1st and it will again include hot air balloons.  This event attracted over 1000 people from all over Kansas. We have had more scheduled and impromptu tours this year-- a testament to our visibility throughout Kansas and beyond.  We  participated in the Sunflower Summer program this year which brought several families on two separate days to experience old time Kansas, sample some Welsh cakes and create some take home activities that shared some of the Welsh culture.

This year we are raising funds for event and programming to share our history and culture with young and old.  We plan to continue to reach out to more schools for field trips, to host a summer youth camp, host concerts, Arvonia Summer Kickoff, produce a film with interviews by past students, and to expand our programming into other areas. 

Mission

The AHPS mission is to provide guidance in the preservation and restoration of the Welsh settlement of Arvonia.  A part of this mission is to raise awareness of the community and to share the history of the school, church and community as a whole.  This includes the Welsh heritage that was once a very important part of this community.

Profile

Arvonia Historic Preservation Society was established in 2014 to promote the Arvonia community and its Welsh heritage.  Since this time, the AHPS has accomplished much and completed 3 phases of restoration.  With the help of grants, fundraisers, and donations the restoration of the school and church interior and exterior is completed.  The Arvonia school was designed by Kansas architect John G. Haskell and constructed by Welsh craftsman James Rice in 1872.  It is one of the most photographed historical schoolhouses in the state.  The Calvinistic Methodist Church was built in 1883 and was in continuous operation as a church until 1967.  Restoration of the township hall, built in 1916, has been completed.  New front steps, a concrete pad and wheelchair ramp have been added.  The addition of a heating/cooling system to the school and church will preserve work that is already completed as well as keeping the buildings at a comfortable temperature for our events. This also allows us to keep our historic pieces in the buildings instead of having to move them from a temperature controlled building at the time of events which increases the possibility of damage to precious objects. 

Your generous donations help us maintain, celebrate and retell community history by maintaining the buildings and other elements of the community that are linked to it.  The completion of the exterior of the township hall has allowed us to focus our efforts on events and programming.  With the support of caring people like you, the spirit of Arvonia will live on.