Crewe High School - Railroader Yearbook (Crewe, VA)

Page 9 text:

In Crewe scriptions and a contribution of $2300 from the town council. This frame building was dedicated on August 24, 1897; and the school instituted a thoroughly graded course. For several years eight grades and three years of high school were taught. In order to accommodate the high school de¬ partment, a brick building, which faces Tyler Street and is still in use, was erected in 1907. (This was the year that Jennings ' Ordinary school closed due to poor average attendance; and the children were brought to Crewe by wagon.) When the fourth year of high school was added, the eighth grade was dropped. The first four-year high school class was graduated in 1910, making the Class of 1959 the fiftieth to graduate from the four-year high school course. In 1920, the frame building, which housed the seven grades, burned. Rooms were rented in avail- able places throughout the business part of town. Immediately, additional lots were secured adjoin¬ ing the original brick building. This building was completed and ready for occupancy for the fall term of 1922. Halls connecting the two brick structures still in use give the appearance of one building. Until August 30, 1922, the Crewe Public School had been under the supervision of a Winningham district school board; on that date a deed was drawn up transferring this property to the Notto¬ way County School Board. This aerial view shows how the Tyler Street build¬ ing and the new brick building were made to appear as one. This picture was taken shortly after the present brick struct¬ ure was com¬ pleted. Black-stockinged youths line up to march in their new, brick school. The Tyler Street building today is considered just another part of the main building.

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A School Grows Log House School Crewe was proud of this school built in 1897. Growing Pains seems to characterize the his¬ tory of Crewe High School. From the five-room brick high school building, from which the class of 1910 was graduated, Crewe High Schoo l has grown to a seven-building ca m p us occupying 14 acres of land. Crewe ' s first school was known as The Old Log House. It was a small, one-room, log build¬ ing, located in the yard of the property now owned by Mr. U. K. Franken. This first school had an enrollment of twenty pupils in 1887. When the Norfolk and Western moved its shops midway be¬ tween Norfolk and Roanoke, the school population increased so rapidly, that a new school building was erected by the fall of 1888. This building had two recitation rooms, a cloak room, and a hall. (This building, located on East Tennessee Avenue, is now the residence of Mi ' s. Joe Wilson.) Eighty pupils registered for this term; however, before the term was over the cloakroom and the hall had to be converted into a classroom. Each year brought increased enrollment and more crowded conditions. By 1895twoextra rooms had to be rented. In 1896, an effort to grade the school was made but owing to the crowded condi¬ tions of the main building and the location of the rented rooms, not much was accomplished. Through the interests of public-spirited persons, arrangements were made to erect a new school building. The money was raised from private sub- The Tyler Street building and the frame building (which burned in 1920) serve as a meeting place for paraders. The building at the left was one of several used for temporary classrooms after the fire.

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The Home Economics Cottage has been in use for classes since September, 1938. The next building to appear on the campus of Crewe High School, as it is now called, was a home economics cottage which was completed in 1938. About ten years later, the industrial arts building, a one-story cinder- block building, was completed and put into use in the 1947-48 school term. By the 1949-50 term, the number of high school stu¬ dents in both Crewe and Burkeville had dwindled to such an extent that plans had to be laid for the consolidation of the Crewe and Burkeville high schools. Then, too, the system became a 12-year program, thus calling for the retention of more students in the school system. With consolidation in view, a one-story cinder-block, mod- ernly equipped agriculture building was annexed to the industrial arts building. It was ready for use by the fall of 1953. Also, a new cafeteria was started to replace the outgrown basement cafeteria. This brick, one-story building faces Tyler Street and is connected to the main building by a breezeway, however, the new cafeteria was not ready for use until November 1, 1953.