Part 1 – Halls Elementary

It’s September and in the late 19th and early 20th century it was time for school to start.  In my time we didn’t have our first day until after Labor Day and when the first week of June arrived we were done for the year.  Back at the turn of the 20^th century, school only lasted 8 months – September until April.  Kids were needed at home to work on the farm.

These schools were different in other ways as well:  mostly single room buildings with a pot-bellied stove to provide heat in the winter, small wooden desks or just benches for students, a desk and a large blackboard for the teacher, a bucket of water with a dipper for students to have something to drink, and individual slates or small chalkboards for the students to do their “figurin and spellin” on. Lunch or dinner (as the noon-time meal was known then) was brought from home in a metal bucket or pail or in baskets.

All grades met together with younger students in the front row and older students in the back. Some schools were segregated by gender – girls on the left, boys on the right. It was common for the oldest students to work with the youngest while the teacher worked with the middle grades.

No books, no homework or extracurricular activities meant evening chores, supper and early bedtimes rounded out a student’s day.

Most children attending the one-room schools walked to and from school through every kind of weather that nature could bring.   A lucky few went by horseback or wagon as their parents traveled to their jobs or into town.

Did you know that in an 1895 map Knox County had 27 different schools in the northern part of the county?  Two maps, Figures 1 and 2, show these schools, located from the Grainger County line to the Anderson County line, with a list of the schools below each figure.

Of these 27 schools, an initial four schools became the original Halls Consolidated School which opened in 1917.  Students came to the new school from Blooming Grove, Stony Point, Mont Vale and Bright Hope.  Later the Flint Hill school students were moved to the consolidated school.

Montvale (or Monte Vale) on Emory Rd. near Greenwell Dr.

Flint Hill located north on Maynardville Highway.

In the early 1900’s the community was starting to grow.  Local people started talking about creating a consolidated school that would combine the students from these five schools.  Their hope was that the new school building that would be large enough to add students from other small schools and eventually hold 12 grades.  Community leaders like Squire Sterling Mayes (Lawyer and Judge) and Mr. A.I. Smith (Avondale Dairy) began to work for this.  Enthusiasm and support for the consolidated school building grew.

In 1915, the Knox County Quarterly Court appropriated $11,000 for the consolidated grammar school at Halls Crossroads (at the corner of Emory Road and Maynardville Highway).  Land was donated by A.I. Smith for this new building.  Many community members donated funds, in addition to the money from Knox County.

When the school was first constructed it seemed not only adequate, but some said more than adequate, for the community’s educational needs for many years to come.  In fact, there were many who said it would never be filled!  

As the new school was being completed in 1917, Sam Ledgerwood, a teacher who died in 1916 before the school opened, donated money to be put in the cornerstone of the new school. 

The new school had a total enrollment of 331 students with 8 teachers when it opened.  It had eight years of elementary school and two years of high school.  Students who wanted to finish high school went to Central in Fountain City.

Students were transported to the new school on two horse drawn “buses” with long bench seats along each side. 

The first school principal was Mr. Earnest Gatewood (E.G) Hall (great-grandson of Thomas Hall*).  He was called “Professor” and served as principal from 1917 until the end of the 1919 school year.

Professor A.J. Francisco was in charge from 1919 to 1921. 

Professor A. L.  Broyles was principal from 1921-1924. 

In 1926, just 10 years after the construction of the Halls Consolidated School, it became necessary to add a second building.  

The school added an auditorium/ gymnasium and cafeteria in the 1950s.

The population of Halls was expanding and by the late 1960’s the school was out of space.  It was necessary to add “flat-tops” or portable classrooms around the exterior of the school.    Age and wear began to take its toll in the 1970’s and the school was starting to show it.

In 1982, State fire marshals visited the original Halls Elementary School building, and according to Scott Haynes, Principal, the fire marshals “really gave us a raking over the coals.”  Parents became concerned about the safety of the building and formed a school committee.

The committee gathered petitions and attended meetings with school officials and County commissioners trying to convince them of the need for a new Halls Elementary School building.  Carmen McDaniel (then president of the PTA) and Jack Bowers were instrumental in the fight for a new school.  After a tour of the old building by the Knox County finance and education committees, the County Commission gave the approval for a new building. The new Halls Elementary School building, located on Andersonville Pike, opened for students in August 1984.

Before moving to the new school building in May 1984, Scott Haynes removed the cornerstone from the 1917 Consolidated School building.  The Cornerstone contained many items of importance from the community of 1917.  Among the items was the money inserted by Sam Ledgerwood.  The Cornerstone was then placed in the new Halls Elementary School building.

With the completion of the new elementary school, the consolidated school buildings continued to fall into disrepair.  On May 16, 1990 the old school buildings caught fire. Chemicals illegally stored there ignited and the entire complex burned to the ground. 

Eventually the remaining ruins on the site were cleared.  The hill that once was the site of the consolidated school was bulldozed and the property was sold for commercial development.

Today a CVS Pharmacy, an ORNL Federal Union and a Truist Bank along with UT Medical Center satellite offices occupy the site.

In Parts 2-4 of our History of Halls Schools we’ll explore the establishment of the first Halls High School, the Halls Middle School and the rest of those early one room schools. We’ll also take a look back at our teachers and principals through the years.

Source material and information for this story was obtained from:

• Halls Pubic Library
• Knox County School Museum
• Halls Shopper
• East Tennessee Historical Museum
• Individual School (Halls) Historical Collection
• Hubert LaRue’s Collections
• Community Members