Coeburn High School - Reflector Yearbook (Coeburn, VA)

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OUR FIRST HALF-CENTURY The first annual session of Coeburn Schools opened in 1904 in a newly erected frame building which stood where our present high school building stands. The first board of trustees consisted of Mr. C.F. Kilgore, Chairman; Mr. J.M. Evans, Clerk and Mr. C.K. Counts, Member— all deceased. In 1908 the eighth and ninth grades were added to the school. Miss Mable Clay, now Mrs. Silas Miller, Miss Otie Gibson, now Mrs. J. R. Robbins, Luther Hillman, and Edgar Fraley were the first graduates in 1909. The tenth grade was added in 1911; the eleventh, the following year; and in 1914-15 the school be- came a fully accredited four-year high school. Mr. R.D. Baker, of Big Stone Gap, was division superintendent until July, 1909, when Dr. J.N. Hill- man, born and reared near Coeburn, became Wise County ' s first full time superintendent. He served until 1917 when he resigned to accept a position with the State Board of Education in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. J.J. Kelly, Jr., of Wise, our present superintendent, was appointed to complete the unexpired term of Dr. Hillman. He has ably served Wise County as superintendent of schools from then to the present time. Principals for our first half-century have been as follows: Mr. G. Milton Elam, 1908-1909; Mr. H.L. Sulfridge, 1909-1911; Mr. R.B. Rust, 1911-1912; Mr. J.H. Summers, 1912-1913; Mr. Ira L. Warner, 1913- 1915; Mr. J.A. Livesay, 1915-1925; Mr. J. Roy Home, 1925-1929; Mr. J.B. Roller, 1929-1937; Mr. C.J.M. Kyle, 1937-1941; Mr. A.D. Bragg, 1941-1951; Mr. W.D. Richmond, part of 1951-52; Mr. Carl McConnell 1952 . Of these we know that Mr. Elam, Mr. Livesay, and Mr. Bragg are deceased. Mr. Sulfridge, who was teaching at Randolph-Macon College at the time of his retirement, lives in Charlottesville, Virginia; Mr. Warner is teaching in high school in Charleston, W. Va.; Mr. Horne, who went from Coeburn to Big Stone Gap, has retired and lives on his farm at Sugar Grove, Virginia; Mr. Roller has retired from school work, but as a school board member is still interested in the educational field. He lives in Pearisburg, Virginia, where he and his son John own and operate Roller Floral Company. Mr. Kyle lives in Orange, Virginia, where he is superintendent of Orange County schools. Mr. Richmond, who came to our rescue after Mr. Bragg ' s death, is Supervisor of Instruction for Wise County schools. Mr. McConnell has beenour principal since 1952. Because so many pupils come from surrounding communities, the original frame building became in- adequate; and on April 29, 1911, bonds were let for a new brick building which was finished in 1913. After the school ' s enrollment passed the 1200 mark, it was necessary to add a wing to this building in 1926. The original frame building, used by the high school department at the time, burned on Sunday after- noon, Feb. 26, 1928- In 1928, then, another wing was added to the brick structure which was used by the high school until our present building was completed in 1955. In 1930, a modem gymnasium was erected, giving Coeburn at that time one of the most adequate school plants in the county. Now we have a new gymnasium-cafeteria addition which was finished late in the fall of 1957. We have grown in number of graduates from four in 1909 to a graduating class of ninety-three in 1959. A high average of our graduates attend higher institutions of learning and go far in their chosen field. Many have become business leaders, teachers, ministers, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, school adminis- trators, and successful homemakers. We are justly proud of the first fifty years of progress of our dear alma mater, and we trust that the next fifty years hold still greater accomplishments. 18

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FIRST GRADE with . . . MRS. A. ADDINGTON and MISS WOOD. SECOND GRADE with MISS THOMPSON, MISS HILTON, and MRS. HORNE. GRADE with THIRD GRADE with . . MISS CHASE, MRS. HANEY, and MRS. C. ADDINGTON. MISS JORDAN, MRS. GILLIAM, and MRS. STROM. 17

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