Teacher on left: Sarah Elizabeth Brown; teacher on right: Fannie Lee Thompson Sykes
Photograph submitted by Betty Moran.

The Stewart School is located in the town of Stewart in Houston County Tennessee. In August 1896, 1/2 acre north of the railroad and west of the Depot (across the tracks from where we lived was purchased by the directors District 2, for $40.00 from J. H. Scarbrough. A two story building was constructed, each floor about 30×40 feet had small stairs so youngsters could climb them, they being the lower grades upstairs. It was a two teacher school, grades were Primer (Kindergarten) to the 8th grade, books were bought by the parents of the child attending. In 1925, a one story wing was added on the Northwest side for a two year Junior High School. As further information in 1926 there was a bill presented for 35 cords of wood to be used in the stoves to heat the School building at Stewart. Since all water was brought in a bucket with dipper, no danger of freezing pipes, so fire was not maintained during the night. (Most children had those folding tin cups they would pour the water into to drink, when finished fold it back up and keep in your desk .) It was the responsibility of the teacher to get there in time each morning to build a fire and get the room warm before school time. This building was purchased from the school board by Jonas Gray and he and family lived in it and operated a store out of it until 1935, when he had built a new home and store on the same property.

In 1928, four acres were purchased and deeded to the school board, who built a Junior High School on it. They stayed there until during WW2, with the high school moved to Erin by bus at that time, then sometime after 1950 the elementary school was closed and the kids bused to Tennessee Ridge. The building was turned over to the town of Stewart who have made a community center out of it, and it is very busy, with a number of reunions, dances, bands and etc. using it for a small fee. It has 7 large rooms, inc. kitchen and dining area, along with an auditorium that you can seat up to 200 people in it. We have a number of meetings there each year.

Information provided by Ira Bell