The start of the school year still inspires me, though I am sadly not heading off to the halls of academia myself. I like the edging of summer into fall, and the promise of cooler weather energizes my mental faculties – usually resulting in a great many “to do” lists that will languish once winter hits, and my productivity collides with the allure of hot chocolate and a good book. But before cold weather prompts me into sluggishness, I’d like to share the story of a historic school that has been closed now for 57 years.
Façade of the circa 1938 Concord School in Elliott County, Kentucky.
In 1901,the superintendent of schools in Elliott County, Kentucky, a Mr. T.T. Mobley, noted in his report to the state that sixty school districts operated in Elliott County. (Modern readers must take note that rural schools at this time were often about two miles apart, since most of the student population got to school courtesy of their own two feet.) The school term was five months long, and the average teacher was paid $34.62 a month.
A section of the 1950 USGS topographic quadrangle of Ault, Kentucky, showing Concord School at the bottom of the map, and two miles to the northeast, Bunker Hill School, and to the northwest, Beartown School. I don’t know if those school buildings still exist.
One of these schools was the Concord School, built on the banks of Rocky Creek, and located between the communities of Dew Drop and Ordinary. The first school, built before 1869, was a one-room log building. It served the children of the area until 1912, when a new frame school was constructed.
The rear elevation of the school, and the creek.
The second version of the Concord School wasn’t very old when the Great Depression enveloped America. One of many Federal programs designed to boost the economy, the Works Progress Administration not only employed out-of-work men, but WPA projects changed the Kentucky landscape.*
In this case, local stone was quarried and used to build a well lit, two room replacement school for the previous Concord School. The facade has a central entry door, flanked by two small windows, placed high on the wall, to either side. The rear wall of the school, which faces south, has seven large windows (now boarded up) and one door.
The entry door may be a replacement, but the sentiments of the sign are right on track.
Two years after the end of World War II, a kitchen and dining room were added – presumably in a separate building that no longer stands. While the Concord School could now provide meals to its student body, a way of life was changing, and rural schools were entering a twilight period.
Side elevation and facade.
A few years before Concord School provided meals for the students, the county school district purchased two panel trucks to serve as school buses. These converted trucks could transport children to schools far further than just two miles down the road. Little schools were closed, and students bused to the county seat, in Sandy Hook.
The Concord School closed in 1968. Fortunately, it was adopted by the adjacent Baptist church, and used as a fellowship hall for the congregation. Although snow lingered on the ground during my visit to the Concord School, I imagined students of differing ages streaming out of the back door and heading for the creek on a hot afternoon. Splashing their feet, their conversations moving as quickly as a splash in the water, perhaps they too felt the optimism and excitement of a new school year, and all they might learn.
*Verifying this building as a WPA project is still ongoing, but it sure looks like one.
Want to read about other WPA schools in Kentucky? Check out these blog posts!
The lunchroom menus, as well as the buildings, were a project of WPA. My mother’s first job was advising the principals & their staffs on the development of the lunchrooms in Clark & Montgomery Counties for the 1941-2 school year. She likely was only able to do this because her older brother let her use his car while he was serving in WWII.