St. John's Military School Historical Museum - Salina, Kansas St. John's Military School was an academy in Salina, Kansas which operated from 1887 to 2019. Shortly after the closing of the school, St. John's Military School Historical Museum was permanently established on campus as a separate non-profit entity to ensure the continuation of the museum and preserving the history of St. John's Military School. The museum had a grand opening on May 14, 2021. The museum has no regular open hours, but says it is open seven days a week and to call 15 minutes before you wish to tour. In June 2021 I called the new museum with about 40 minutes warning and was told that the curator was at the museum and would remain to show me around. I was met at the museum by Kent Tretheway (Class of 1971) who gave me a very thorough tour which included associating specific photos and artifacts with over 100 students, faculty and staff. The museum has about 7 galleries, each associated with certain years and having class photos of all but a few of the oldest classes. Each gallery has social areas with plush chairs & sofas, making the building into a nice club house for the "Old Boys." as the alumni are known. Our tour took about an hour and 20 minutes. Someone with a connection to the school would probably take more time. Those without a connection will probably be satisfied with no more than a 30 minute visit. The Old Mule Skinner sculpture shown at the bottom of this page was created by Richard Bergen in 1987 in celebration of the academy's centennial and 20 years of the Mule Skinner's Club which supported the school. It located a short walk north of the museum.
St. John's Military
School Historical Museum website
copyright 2020-2025 by Keith Stokes |
