Rapp School District No. 50 was organized on June 10, 1870. The school and the town, one-quarter mile east and one-half mile south along the railroad tracks, were named for early settler C. J. Rapp. The first school building was a wooden structure measuring 18 feet by 25 feet, built by August and Swan Bloom for $175, and the first teacher in 1873 was T. E. Hathaway. In 1929, the present red-brick one-room school was constructed by the Leighty Brothers of Osage City, Kansas, with a full basement, hand pump for water, coal furnace, boys' and girls' cloakrooms, library, and 40 desks of various sizes. At first, school was held three months in summer with a female teacher and four months in winter with a male teacher; later, a five and one-half month session was established, and then in the 1900's an eight-month session. School operation ended on April 27, 1959, with five students enrolled: Janet Havenstein, Vincent Anderson, Charles Anstrom, Thomas Henry, and Larry Colstrom, and Mae J. Carlson was the last teacher. The ladies of the Rapp Home Demonstration Unit cleaned and maintained the inside of the building until the 1990's. The Rapp School Preservation Association was formed in 1992 with the motto "Save the Best of the Past for the Future," and the structure was repaired through contributions from former students and others and grants from the W.S. and E.C. Jones Trust. In 1995, the Rapp School Building, containing educational materials and books used since 1929, and the school yard were listed as a State Historic Site and then placed in the National Register of Historic Places. Rapp School District citizens, alumni, friends, the Grant Township Trustees, and the Rapp School Preservation Association continue to preserve the building and grounds and promote the study and understanding of an important part of the nation's education history.