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Schools |
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HEILWOOD SCHOOLS
In 1902, J.H. Weaver purchased a 112-acre tract of land in Pine Township from John S. Bowers. It was from this tract of land that Weaver, in 1905, deeded 55/100 of an acre to the school district “to be used for school purposes and no other purposes.” In its July 1905 meetings, the Pine Township school board began to formulate plans for the construction of the school. By the middle of October, board members had agreed on the building specifications - basically a two-story, wooden-framed house with two classrooms. The new school building's dimensions were 38’ x 26’, and it rested on a stone foundation rising 18” above the ground on the upper end and 24” above the ground on the lower end. The foundation walls were 18” wide, constructed from “good ordinary stone.” The floors, walls, and ceiling were made from #2 yellow pine, while the exterior was #1 hemlock (1” thick). The roofing consisted of #1 red cedar shingles. There were two flues - one on each side of the building. A front door with steps permitted access to the building, and there was also one door in the cellar for coal. The exact placement of the toilets is unknown, but they were either attached to the rear of the building much like a bay window, or in the basement. The building also had a belfry on the roof (see top picture at left). Sanford Mardis of Pine Township, being the low bidder at $1,330.40, was awarded the contract, and construction was to be completed within 30 days of the date (October 18, 1905). Henry Hall of Indiana, being the low bidder on furnishings, provided seats, desks, and chairs. Black Bangor slate blackboards were also installed. And as the final step, using pure linseed oil and pure white lead, three coats of paint were applied to the building, which was to be inspected before being taken off the contractor’s hands. The building was insured for $1,400 through the Miller & Dumm Insurance Agency of Barnesboro. Records indicate that some of the first teachers at the new school were: Mr. Barr; A. F. Roser; Martha Groff; June Pattison and Elsie Learn (see picture at left). In 1907, a petition was circulated in the Heilwood area for the creation of an independent school district. This petition was opposed by another group of residents, who circulated their own petition in opposition to the creation of the independent district. After hearing both sides of the matter, the Indiana County Commissioners decided that the school district should be granted, even though the taxes obtainable from the district would barely support it. The Commissioners noted that a new district would give Pine Township better schools in the long term, and would not interfere with the other county districts. The newly created school district covered almost 2,000 acres. The school would remain at this site until about 1909, at which time a change was made. The district school board determined "that the present school was inadequate in size to accomodate all the children in that portion of the district." Therefore, they sold the school building, lot, and a half-acre of ground know as the Poplar Springs School #5 lot to the Penn Mary Coal Company. The district school board received $1,420, which they reinvested in the construction of a new school building. In turn, the Penn Mary Coal Company, for the consideration of $1.00, sold a 218' x 200' lot to the school district containing one acre of ground. It was on this new lot that, “the said school district of Pine Township would erect a substantial two-story school building, containing eight rooms, finish and furnish so many of said room as are now required for school purposes and the other rooms to be reserved for anticipated increases of children of school age.” |
| THE NEW SCHOOL BUILDING In April of 1909, the Clymer Brick & Fire Clay Company of Clymer, Pennsylvania received the contract for the bricks to be used to construct the new school building. By July 1909 the school was near completion. This school building served the town well over the next dozen years. Only on a handful of instances was it necessary to provide auxiliary classrooms due to overcrowding in the building. The second floor of the barber shop, the former meat market, and the town hall would all provide sites for these extra classrooms. It wasn't until the fall of 1926 / spring of 1927 that another school building was constructed. Built adjacent to the existing school building, this new building became the town high school. Prior to the construction of this second school building, the district had a two-year high school in 1911 and a three-year high school in 1916. With this building, the district finally had a four-year high school.
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