Piedmont High School - Summit Yearbook (Lawndale, NC)

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LAWNDALE, NORTH CAROLINA 9 torium fitted with raised seats and modern stage scenery. Its seating capacity is about nine hundred. The Waters’ Library building was completed twelve years ago. This building, by the bequest of Miss Nancy Waters, was erected in memory of her brother, Capt. A. G. Waters, a brave Confederate soldier, killed m the battle of Gains Mill, near Richmond, Va., July 27th, 1862. The building, thirty by thirty-six, two stories, built of pressed brick, the smallest of our buildings, adorns the crest of the hill. It is a fit monument for one who gave his life for native land— more appropriate by far than glistering marble or lofty granite. On the evening of February the fifteenth, 1913, when the ma¬ jority of the boys were attending church in Lawndale, fire broke out in Newton Hall, and in spite of the water-works and heroic efforts on the part of those present, the building could not be saved as it was too far gone when the fire was discovered. There was some insurance and the hall was duplicated by the opening of the next session. May the seventeenth, 1911, the last day of Commencement, after an inspiring address by Hon. T. W. Bickett, Major H. F. Schenck, President of the Board of Trustees, presented the needs of the school to the audience, and asked for five thousand dollars to pay off the existing indebtedness, to paint the buildings and to install water-works. A wave of enthusiasm, such as is seldom seen, when the people are asked for money, passed over the audience. Wealthy men, boys and girls working their way through school, women and children, all caught the spirit of the hour. More than six thousand dollars was raised. A steam heating plant has been installed for the use of Schenck Hall, the girls’ dormitory. This eliminates some of the fire risk and it is a great convenience to the young women who are board¬ ing pupils of Piedmont. For the last three years Piedmont as been a private preparatory school aided by the state. Beginning with next session, August

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8 PIEDMONT HIGH SCHOOL seems almost impossible to secure enough rooms for our students demonstrates clearly the wisdom of our plans and the soundness of our policy; not perhaps from a financial standpoint, but from the standpoint of doing the most good to the most people. A building, thirty by fifty, two stories high, was erected during the summer, and it was ready for occupancy at the beginning of the session of 1909-1910. The lower story of this building is used as a boys’ dormitory. The upper story is used by the Musig- marhonian and the Pierian Literary Societies. On the seventh of March, 1910, the main building, containing recitation rooms, dining room, auditorium, Principal’s office and residence, girls’ dormitory, and one dormitory for boys, was de¬ stroyed by fire. As only two dormitories for boys and the society halls remained, it was impossible to continue our work, so the school was suspended for the remainder of the session. Major Schenck, the President of the Board of Trustees, called a meeting of the citizens and it was determined to rebuild. The contract was let and work was begun at once. Sequestered student life gave place to the builders’ work. Girls, boys, teachers, study and examinations had given way to the carpenter, the mason and the tinner. Soon the wooded hill was resonant with craftsman’s tools. Out of the ashes of the old was born a bigger and a better Piedmont. Out of the fire-fiend’s ruin; out of cherished, broken plans have come the fruition of broader foundations and the realization of higher ideals. Three handsome structures, more modern in construction than the old, more dormitory rooms, more recitation rooms, greater conveniences, water-works, a larger campus, larger playgrounds, and electric lights are the out¬ come of our terrible disaster. In all there are six buildings on our campus. The main building, Schenck Hall, contains four well-lighted and well-ventilated recitation rooms, a dining room, thirty-three by seventy, a kitchen with many conveniences, an office and rooms for the Principal and his family. The whole of the upper story of the building is used as a dormitory for girls. The next is the stately building containing the department of music, the business school, the primary department and an audi-

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10 PIEDMONT HIGH SCHOOL the 12th, Piedmont will be a state high school with better equip¬ ment than it has ever had before. Toilets and shower-baths are being put in for the girls, and a new building is already planned for the next session but will not be ready by the beginning of the session. The buildings are being repainted on the outside. PIEDMONT IS NOT AN EXPERIMENT. From small be¬ ginnings, through toil and sacrifice, it has ripened in efficiency till it is now generally recognized as one of the strongest preparatory schools in the state. It has twenty-six years of steady growth behind it, a large patronage and many friends in the present, and glorious possibilities for the future. No history of Piedmont High School would be complete with¬ out mentioning the benefactions of the late Major H. F. Schenck, whose heart and soul and master mind were devoted to Piedmont and to the ideals for which it stands. Major Schenck was gath¬ ered to his fathers, September 25, 1916. The school, its teachers, its patrons and its pupils mourn the loss of this strong, broad¬ minded, big-souled friend of boys and of girls, who devoted his time, his talents, and his means to the education of all the people. He has been heard to say that, though he never received a penny from Piedmont in the way of financial dividends, he had never invested money in anything that pleased him better than the money he invested in Piedmont High School. Our water cannot be surpassed. At a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the school buildings is a fine, large spring of pure, sparkling water, affording more than twelve gallons per minute. The water is piped to us by means of an electric pump. A tank of fifteen thousand gallons capacity, standing on a steel tower more than fifty feet high, gives us means of fighting fire. With this and with electric lights, with no danger of exploding lamps nor deadly fumes of gas in our dormitories, with buildings of only two stories in front, we feel that we have less to fear from fire than ever before. At a distance of not more than four hundred yards from the school are springs of health-giving sulphur-lithia water. Situated on top of a majestic hill, sloping in every direction,