Hector High School - Wildcat Yearbook (Hector, AR)

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HECTOR S SCHOOL SYSTEM NINETY YEARS OLD In 1886 Hector School District No. 59 opened its first school under a cotton gin shed owned by J. M. Webb with Mr. Shelby Newton as its first teacher. On October 7, 1929 a new school was finished in Hector. The building was paid for and built by local citizens. The house was built without a school tax or bond. The people of Hector raised $4,000 for the new build- ing, but after visiting other schools, the people soon realized that they had insufficient funds for the type of building they wanted. Thanks to volunteer work though, the building was built. The building was 48 feet by 54 feet and two stories high. There were three classrooms on the ground floor and an auditorium on the second floor. The school was headed by Paul Llewellyn as principal, Miss Marjorie Mathis as intermediate teacher, and Miss Lois Hurley as primary teacher. Before this, the upper grades had to walk to Newton Springs to school. The Hector school paid their tuition of $1 per month. In 1922 and 1923 the Cumberland Presby- terian Church was used for the upper grades. Later school was held in the old Masonic Lodge building as the school building built in 1923 became overcrowded. Autry Newton was the first superintendent of Hector School (1925-26). O. G. McCaroll was the first agriculture teacher (1926-27). Miss llah Forest was the first Home Economics teacher (1926-27). Easkel Horn was the first basketball coach (1926-27). The first school bus was pur- chased in 1929. The Hector School was at one time (1930-33) the largest rural school in Arkansas. 6

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The people of Hector celebrated the installation of electric power on February 22, 1938. The celebration started at 4 o’clock. J. M. Oanley of Scottsville was in charge of the program, but several others also spoke. Not too long ago, Hector got a new fire truck. It was a welcome addition to our town. The truck cost $6,085. The city of Hector paid $3,000 of it, and the Hector Ruritan Club raised the remainder. James Walker was named as the fire chief. 5

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WING SCHOOLS HAVE A SEPARATE HISTORY TILLY Tilly was established in 1926. It consisted of two grocery stores. One was owned by Calbert Crow, the other by the postmaster, Willie Dawkins who named Tilly after his hometown of Tilly, Oklahoma. In 1904 a one room school was built. It was named after Wade West who donated the land. Later it be- came better known as Union Hill. The children could start at the age of 4 and could stay in the 8th grade as long as they wanted since there was no higher education offered. Children from three coun- ties went to this school. A new school was built by Andrew Kimbrel and his sons. The new school still just had one class- room, but had a lunchroom and a stage for entertainment. Some of the teachers included Dewey Bell, Columbus Bell, Cozette Campbell, Linda Campbell, Deler Blackwell, Wilma Emerson, Vicy Martain, Emily Maxwell, Auto Prufet, and Noie Ford. 7 Rock Springs