An interesting read: the history of our alma mater: History of Spring Hill High School Past Schools in Spring Hill Area Identifying the first school in Spring Hill, Tennessee, is a difficult task, since detailed records were not kept. However, there is evidence of several schools operating in the Spring Hill area dating back to the 1800s. There was Westview School, located on Depot Street. It was a typical one-room schoolhouse educating students of all ages. The dates of exact operation for this school are sketchy, but it probably opened in the mid to late 1800s. There was Beechcroft School, run by the daughter of Senator A.O.P. Nicholson and Mrs. Caroline O’Reilly Nicholson. Other schools on record are the Manual Labor Academy, Jackson College, Old Yellow Female Academy, and Neapolis School . Spring Hill Male College The exact dates and location are not known, but there is evidence there was also a Spring Hill Male College and a school that operated in the late 1800s and early 1900s that probably met in the back of a store located on the corner of Depot Street and Hwy. 31. Spring Hill School/Branham and Hughes Spring Hill School was opened in August 1897. It had seventeen students and was located on the property and buildings acquired from Spring Hill Male College. Spring Hill Male College became Branham and Hughes in 1898, and functioned as a Military Academy and general school from 1898-1932. In 1934, the buildings of Branham and Hughes were purchased by the Tennessee Orphans Home, which now functions as the Tennessee Children’s Home. In the 1920s, school was conducted in a large three-story brick building on the corner of School and Duplex Roads. Teachers included Miss Mary Branham (first and second grades), Miss Velma Prentice (third and fourth grades), Mrs. J.L. Grimes (fifth and sixth grades), Miss Grace McCarthy (middle grades), and Miss Ruth McCarthy, Mr. Harold Newman, and Mr. T.J. Liggett (upper grades). Miss Myra McKissack was the principal. The school had ten grades. Typical course offerings were Latin, Civics, English, Algebra, Geometry, and Science. Spring Hill High School In 1933, the school building, which was pre-Civil War era, was condemned and the community petitioned for an official high school to be located on the old Branham and Hughes property. In order to gain status as an accredited high school, the enrollment had to be at least sixty in three high-school grades (9th, 10th, and 11th). During the summer of 1933, Spring Hill area students signed up, and exactly sixty students were enrolled on the first day of school in the Fall of 1933. On that first day, these sixty high-school students packed up their books and relocated themselves to their new campus. Mr. Bill Fowler was principal of the newly opened Spring Hill High School, while Mrs. McKissack stayed behind as principal of Spring Hill Elementary. At this time, the high school added courses such as Typing, Home Economics, Chemistry, and French. The following year (1934) twelfth grade was added. The first senior graduating class of Spring Hill High School was the class of 1935. Graduates that year were Caudell McMeen, Raymon Davis, Burch Grimes, Thomas Parham, Lawrence Dale, Ralph Chappell, G.W. Bowman, Morgan Wilkins, Mary Hargrove, Ruby Holland, Edith Parks, Sarah Elizabeth Parham, Annie Lou Holland, and Thomas Wilkins. Around this time, the Works Progress Association (WPA) was erecting a new building on the old building site. However, due to a fire at Mt. Pleasant School, these workers were sent to work there, and the building was not completed until 1937. This new building/school was called Spring Hill High School and taught grades K-12 from 1937-1984. A new elementary school, Spring Hill Elementary (for grades K-5), was built on Hwy. 31 in 1984. At this time, Spring Hill High School became grades 6-12. Noel Evans became principal of Spring Hill Elementary at this time, while Clyde Farmer assumed the position of principal at Spring Hill High School. In the Fall of 1992, Spring Hill High School moved from this building and relocated to its present location on Highway 31 in northern Maury County. At that time, SHHS housed students in grades 6-12 who were coming from Spring Hill Elementary. In August of 1997, E.A. Cox Middle School opened, and grades 6-8 were taken out of SHHS and sent to the new middle school, leaving SHHS with grades 9-12. At this time, zoning changes were made which brought more students to SHHS from the Columbia area. In 1999, Randolph Howell Elementary was opened, which also brought more families from the feeder schools to SHHS. Enrollment of SHHS varied quite a bit during this transitional period, reaching its climax in the early 1990s with an enrollment of 1500 to approximately 1100 in 2001 to its current enrollment of around 900. Principals of SHHS 1935-1939 --- William E. Fowler 1939-1966 --- Marvin Hensley Wright 1966-1984 --- Noel Evans Fall 1984-June 1991 --- C.Clyde Farmer July 1991-June 1999 --- Roy Vick July 1999-December 1999 ------ Ronald Hines Jan. 2000-June 2001---------- Sharon Cantrell July 2001-June 2004 --- Rhonda Booker July 2004-present ---Richard Callahan The following sources were consulted in the compilation of this brief history: The Spring Hill Public Library. Spring Hill: Everybody Has a History. Franklin, TN: Hillsboro Press, 2002. Duncan, Bob. Personal interview. 22 September 2008. (Composed September 2008) springhillhighschool.org/
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 21:35:14 +0000
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