Finding out the location	hard
Access	very easy
Safety	unsafe
Risk of being seen	low
General condition of the place	bad
Traces of vandalism	none or very few
Good place for taking pictures?	good
Did you see other people?	none or very few

Visit date    August 13 2020 at 1 hr
Visit duration    1 hour

One step into this beautiful historical treasure will instantly take you back in time. Sadly, there is no information online, or anywhere regarding this school. After hours of chatting with locals and listening to decades old memories, finally the mystery was mostly unraveled. It was erected in 1909 and was initially a small, multigenerational school housing only about 300 students at its peak. It began as a high school and then switched over to a grade school about 1935. It was built strong. The exterior is solid brick, two stories, and lots of windows to allow air flow. Inside, the architecture is marvelous and detailed; 12 foot ceilings, large rooms, coat closets, hardwood floors, colorful walls and thick, detailed wooden bannisters in the stair wells. It was said to have served grades 1-6/7 until the opening of “J” middle school. Grades 1-3 were held on the lower level and grades 3-6/7 were on the upper level. There was only one grade per classroom, and eventually two grades per classroom as needs expanded. Locals endearingly recounted how “cool” it felt when the years progressed and you got moved upstairs with the “big kids”. In 1964, the school made expansions, adding a cafeteria, rest rooms, library and a music room. the cafeteria was a separate building before this During this renovation, kids were temporarily moved to a local church to continue schooling. Before the new additions, it was said that the only bathrooms were located in the basement and were fairly creepy to visit. The basement also served as an area for bomb drills, a place for recess on rainy days, and was also where the boiler room was, generating the schools heat in the winter. Locals happily recalled their time at the school, stating it was more like family than school. I was told they held chapel, did plays once a week and even had dental visits and shots administered while there. School lunches were always home cooked meals comprised of fine ingredients from home grown gardens. Students were described to me as happy and “the most well behaved children you would ever meet”. Most of the kids walked to school and everyone knew each other. Teachers and staff disciplined the children using stern and physical punishments. Most remembered for this was Major Charles Anderson, principal of the school for an impressive 40 consecutive years. He was a well respected pillar of the community as well as a strict educator. Eventually the school closed in 1988. Sadly, it is located in a very small and poor town. It was receiving little attention and the demographic of the whole town is also very poor, with the median yearly income only at about $25,000. The town could not provide enough funds to continue to keep the doors open for all its schools. T Town closed all the doors and opened one single, mega campus to house all the grades and save costs in 2000. It was also said racial integration and asbestos/lead paint contributed to its closure. It remained closed after 1988 awaiting a renovation. It took years for this renovation to be approved and carried out, but eventually it reopened in 1993/1994 as the district office. Just enough rooms were renovated in the downstairs portion to provide the office space needed. Before this, the district office was a mobile site. It operated until about 2009 until it was also combined into the mega campus to save money. With no money or purpose, it sat vacant. In 2016, it became the victim of an unknown arsonist. At 9:30 am, the middle room on the first floor burned but was quickly controlled. Thankfully, this fire did not claim too much of its rich history, but it definitely left a deep wound. Currently, the inside is falling apart, wet, and charred. Doors and windows are busted. The ceiling leaks and the floors are becoming weak. The upstairs portion of the building came out fairly unscathed, but still shows signs of neglect and decay. Despite all this, it is still stunning and captivating. The old features light up every portion of your imagination. It’s virtually free of graffiti and spray paint. I imagine it will sit neglected until it is reduced to nothing and will only live on inside the minds of past generations. The last two photos included compare the outside of the school when it was originally opened to now

  Text and photos are by Vyvansetrance. Click here to see Vyvansetrance's profile and other reports.

    Send a message to Vyvansetrance