August 8, 2011 Coats Museum News
Residents in retirement homes enjoy the opportunity to talk about times past. It was wonderful to hear that Verle Flowers and Wade Coats had many happy minutes recalling their days at the Oakdale School after reading the Coats Museum News last week. They both remembered well the layout of the school and the bathrooms (toilets) down the hill near the Mingo Swamp. Yes, that was the route of Green’s Path.
Hop onto memory lane and let’s learn about the schools that were in Troyville and in Coats Grove School District 3. Hopefully this info on Grove 3 School will bring back memories for many student s who attended it. An attempt will be made to touch upon the construction of all the dwellings on the old Coats campus as we travel this path of schools.
One hundred and fifty-three years ago in 1858, there were only 32 states in the United States. Harnett County had 1659 students who had walking access to attend one of the 36 schools for a school term of 63 days. The boys and girls who lived in what was later referred to as Grove District 3 would have attended the Rufus Beasley School located in vicinity of the current Ma’s Grill. Do you recognize one of these teachers as an ancestor-Mr. Burch, Sampson Wilson, Albert W. Gregory, and William Stewart?
Many sunsets later in 1879, there were now 37 stars on the flag. According to the memories of older citizens living in Coats in 1955, they recalled that there was a school called Harriette Springs located behind the then house of Owen Odum and now the home of Gregg and Bethany Stevens. Jeff Turlington of Johnston County, Jack Lee Byrd, Tom D. Stewart, Rufus Kennedy, Charles Biggs, W.F. Byrd, and George Long were recalled as being teachers there.
The year was 1900 and people from Harnett County and surrounding counties traveled to Troyville to attend the Primitive Baptist Church Associations at the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church which was located less than a half mile north of the current Coats Baptist Church. Leaving Coats, the white dwelling which is located on the left before one reaches Ma’s Grill was the church. This church was the site of a subscription school operated by Lillian Stack of Person County. Parents paid her $1.00 for 20 days of schooling per student. Question—was Campbell University once a subscription school?
Troyville had a one room school where W.P. Byrd was professor. In 1905, Claude D. Stewart would become principal of Coats Grove District 3. Additional classrooms were added in 1907. In 1908, the Model T came on the American scene as did high school courses taught by Misses Minnie Giddie and Alice Hayward at Grove 3. Students attended school for 70 days and teachers were paid $16.74 a month.
One hundred years ago, the Coats Grove 3 School was allowed a fourth teacher at a salary of $32.50 per month. Oscar Young, Bessie Stevens, and Lottie Link were teachers. In 1911, the Boys Scouts were celebrating its first birthday when Owen Odum came to Coats Grove 3. The beginning of WWI marked the beginning of the 8 month school at Coats. Tyre Stewart, R.O. Stewart and W.J. “Mack” Stewart were the board members who approved the measure. Grove students in the rural areas attended only 120 days. Grove 3 had 7 teachers with one expression and music teacher.
In 1914, a two room construction was built on the Coats Grove 3 campus to accommodate the growing student population. This is the current Coats Museum. By 1917, Coats Grove 3 had 123 students being taught by 6 teachers who earned yearly average wages of $195.92.
Readers, surely you recall reading about the struggle that the Grove 3 voters had in raising funds to build a tri-level brick structure. After three successful bond elections, the school was built for $55,000.The building had a basement which later had a boiler room and coal room after steam heat and water were added in 1926 for a total of $3375.00 Prior to that, tin stoves provided heat. The basement was plagued with flooding problem which made its necessary to add special drainage pipes after the building was finished. The building was built up in the basement to prevent sewage problems resulting from flooding. Part of the north side of the basement and one room on the south side would become the cafeteria in the 1930’s until 1957 when the brick cafeteria was built on campus. Before the school closed, the basement would have been used for special education classes, computer classes, guidance, speech, classrooms and storage of supplementary books and materials.
The first floor of the building originally consisted of 3 rooms on the north side and classrooms at each end of the south end. An office and library were adjacent to an opening that served as the main entrance to the structure. Later the area was bricked up and made into a classroom. Students were later fascinated that steps went into the side of the structure leading to nowhere. The third floor was originally the auditorium but was converted into six classrooms in 1931.
What would it cost to build the same structure in 2011? In the near future the old structure will be gone—leaving behind only pictures and memories of it. The bell and the 1921 corner stone have a new home at Coats Elementary on Brick Mill Road.
Read next week to follow the story of Coats Grove District 3 School and learn how it became a consolidated school.
The Coats Museum folks are very touched by the death of board member and supporter, Mark Parrish. It was Mark and Judy’s son Jonas who moved the 1921 cornerstone and the 1936 cornerstone to the Coats Elementery School as his Eagle Scout project. Their son, Simon Parrish, refurbished the plantation cotton gin in the Coats Museum. Many thanks go to Mack Reid Hudson and H.L. Sorrell for their contribution to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Mark.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was published on August 8, 2011 in the Daily Record.
Residents in retirement homes enjoy the opportunity to talk about times past. It was wonderful to hear that Verle Flowers and Wade Coats had many happy minutes recalling their days at the Oakdale School after reading the Coats Museum News last week. They both remembered well the layout of the school and the bathrooms (toilets) down the hill near the Mingo Swamp. Yes, that was the route of Green’s Path.
Hop onto memory lane and let’s learn about the schools that were in Troyville and in Coats Grove School District 3. Hopefully this info on Grove 3 School will bring back memories for many student s who attended it. An attempt will be made to touch upon the construction of all the dwellings on the old Coats campus as we travel this path of schools.
One hundred and fifty-three years ago in 1858, there were only 32 states in the United States. Harnett County had 1659 students who had walking access to attend one of the 36 schools for a school term of 63 days. The boys and girls who lived in what was later referred to as Grove District 3 would have attended the Rufus Beasley School located in vicinity of the current Ma’s Grill. Do you recognize one of these teachers as an ancestor-Mr. Burch, Sampson Wilson, Albert W. Gregory, and William Stewart?
Many sunsets later in 1879, there were now 37 stars on the flag. According to the memories of older citizens living in Coats in 1955, they recalled that there was a school called Harriette Springs located behind the then house of Owen Odum and now the home of Gregg and Bethany Stevens. Jeff Turlington of Johnston County, Jack Lee Byrd, Tom D. Stewart, Rufus Kennedy, Charles Biggs, W.F. Byrd, and George Long were recalled as being teachers there.
The year was 1900 and people from Harnett County and surrounding counties traveled to Troyville to attend the Primitive Baptist Church Associations at the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church which was located less than a half mile north of the current Coats Baptist Church. Leaving Coats, the white dwelling which is located on the left before one reaches Ma’s Grill was the church. This church was the site of a subscription school operated by Lillian Stack of Person County. Parents paid her $1.00 for 20 days of schooling per student. Question—was Campbell University once a subscription school?
Troyville had a one room school where W.P. Byrd was professor. In 1905, Claude D. Stewart would become principal of Coats Grove District 3. Additional classrooms were added in 1907. In 1908, the Model T came on the American scene as did high school courses taught by Misses Minnie Giddie and Alice Hayward at Grove 3. Students attended school for 70 days and teachers were paid $16.74 a month.
One hundred years ago, the Coats Grove 3 School was allowed a fourth teacher at a salary of $32.50 per month. Oscar Young, Bessie Stevens, and Lottie Link were teachers. In 1911, the Boys Scouts were celebrating its first birthday when Owen Odum came to Coats Grove 3. The beginning of WWI marked the beginning of the 8 month school at Coats. Tyre Stewart, R.O. Stewart and W.J. “Mack” Stewart were the board members who approved the measure. Grove students in the rural areas attended only 120 days. Grove 3 had 7 teachers with one expression and music teacher.
In 1914, a two room construction was built on the Coats Grove 3 campus to accommodate the growing student population. This is the current Coats Museum. By 1917, Coats Grove 3 had 123 students being taught by 6 teachers who earned yearly average wages of $195.92.
Readers, surely you recall reading about the struggle that the Grove 3 voters had in raising funds to build a tri-level brick structure. After three successful bond elections, the school was built for $55,000.The building had a basement which later had a boiler room and coal room after steam heat and water were added in 1926 for a total of $3375.00 Prior to that, tin stoves provided heat. The basement was plagued with flooding problem which made its necessary to add special drainage pipes after the building was finished. The building was built up in the basement to prevent sewage problems resulting from flooding. Part of the north side of the basement and one room on the south side would become the cafeteria in the 1930’s until 1957 when the brick cafeteria was built on campus. Before the school closed, the basement would have been used for special education classes, computer classes, guidance, speech, classrooms and storage of supplementary books and materials.
The first floor of the building originally consisted of 3 rooms on the north side and classrooms at each end of the south end. An office and library were adjacent to an opening that served as the main entrance to the structure. Later the area was bricked up and made into a classroom. Students were later fascinated that steps went into the side of the structure leading to nowhere. The third floor was originally the auditorium but was converted into six classrooms in 1931.
What would it cost to build the same structure in 2011? In the near future the old structure will be gone—leaving behind only pictures and memories of it. The bell and the 1921 corner stone have a new home at Coats Elementary on Brick Mill Road.
Read next week to follow the story of Coats Grove District 3 School and learn how it became a consolidated school.
The Coats Museum folks are very touched by the death of board member and supporter, Mark Parrish. It was Mark and Judy’s son Jonas who moved the 1921 cornerstone and the 1936 cornerstone to the Coats Elementery School as his Eagle Scout project. Their son, Simon Parrish, refurbished the plantation cotton gin in the Coats Museum. Many thanks go to Mack Reid Hudson and H.L. Sorrell for their contribution to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Mark.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was published on August 8, 2011 in the Daily Record.