LaGrange High School - Granger Yearbook (Lagrange, GA)

Page 11 text:

Right Harwell lnow called Old Har welll without fire escar-es Below Old Harwell being razed Unforgettable in the minds of those who fought fire and those who witnessed was the holocaust the night after Christmas night, 1942, when the high school building was completely destroyed by fire. Equal to the fury of the flames, livid heat and char was the feeling of excitement, terror, and emptiness in the heart of many a student, as the once grand, stately building, mellowing with the marks of a generation, was consumed in flames. And so the high school was catapulted once more to its original home. The students, discovering that they and not the building made the school, assembled, only one week behind schedule, at Harwell, which was now Old Harwell, for New Harwell was a beauti- ful, up-to-date grammar school across the street. The abandoned Old Harwell was braced and painted, with fire escapes added. Chutes and steps going out from the upper story gave thc building the appearance of a giant insect. But it was easy to heat, had rooms and cloakrooms, blaekboards, etc., while getting our early was a feature altogether charming. There was fun in the new spirit of coop- erativeness, and there was a satisfaction in a new courage to face hardships cheerfully. So I.. H. S. settled down in Old Harwell until after the war-or so everyone thought. But Old Harwell too, with less drama, passed away in flames one summer night lAugust, 19432, when many a pupil and teacher was out of town. So the new liducation Building of the Methodist Church became the next home of L. H. S. The beautiful, new Education Building, pride of the Methodists, with nearly five hundred teen-sters to scratch and mar! It was unthinkable! But the I.. H. S. spirit soared again in a united effort to keep the church building new and unscarred, to the general praise and admiration of the town. The school adjusted itself surprisingly well, waiting on the stairs for traffic to clear, using lap-board or book in place of a desk, scampering to New Harwell for chapel or lab work, and to the Cottage for typing. In this way, with the aid of friends, L. H. S. now carries on, with a bright hope concretely expressed in a picture drawn by an architect-the picture of a new home for LaGrange High. First Methodist Education Building 'Wx- 5

Page 10 text:

L. H. . Takes il Glance Backwanl ls She limlemplalos Her New Home. In 1903 LaGrange High School came into being. A news .irtiele in 'Ifu l.itir.u1g1' Ii1'jiorf.'r. ,I.inu.iry ill, 111113, tells of the purchase of 1 lot on Harwell Avenue: The consideration w.is 5500. . . . lt is the purpose ol' the lloird lol' liduentionl to erect 1 handsome building there, costing in the neighborhood of Slijlllfl, whieh will include .ill the furniture .mtl equipment .... It is thought the new building can be ready by the first of September next. So the clean, strong, uncrowded building on llarwell Avenue betxime the first home of the l,.iCir.tnge Public School, of which the eighth, ninth, and tenth gmdes were the high school department. But the building very soon Filled up. By 1912 plitns were under w.1y for .1 separate high sehool building, which was erected on North Greenwood Street and opened May, 1914. The upproximne eost was sitnlblltl, not including the furnishings. The new building is described in The I,t1Gr.n1gr K1'fwr'l1r', April 311, 191-1. as the finest .md most modern in the South. It would usher in a new era, educationally, in I.aGr.1nge. The structure w.1s .1 m.irx'el of size .md equipment. Chemistry, physies, typing, domestic science, manual trainingfeverything had been provided for. There were txcn .idiusuble desks and .ln electric bell. Still I.. H. S. stretched and grew tall. In 1921 the building had to be enlarged, .md in 1929 .1 llome lconomicx Cottage and n gymnasium were built. Above: Harwell in I903 Below: High School Building High School Burning

Page 12 text:

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