History of the Rose Hill School

In the 1922-23 school year, Rose Hill High School met the qualifications for standardization and graduated six seniors. However, the school had its roots long before this time.

The first school in Rose Hill was started in a one-room log cabin in 1870, five years before Rose Hill received its charter. The school was located on Charity Road just outside of Rose Hill on the Hatch Lanier farm. Clay Stanford and Eddie Bland were the first teachers. While today students are members of clubs and sports teams, extra-curricular activities use to be spelling bees, speeches, and multiplication matches. The log cabin was replaced by a one-frame building in 1883, and an additional room was added in 1900.

The students met in a three-room frame building for the first time in 1907. A stage was built all the way across one room, and the first literary society was founded here. As many as 500 people would attend a performance at the school. W. J. Sloan was the principal at this time. During the school year, the first record of a library is found; organized athletics were started, and the baseball team was reported to be very good.

Rose Hill got its first brick school building in 1914 and gave out its first diplomas at the end of the school year. By this time, Rose Hill had five teachers. In the years that followed, improvements continued to be made. An additional two-story, four-room frame building, called “The Little Pink School House” was built in 1926. A year later, more classrooms and an auditorium were added to the brick school, and a heating system replaced the stoves. In the 1929-30 school year, the heating plant was improved; and a complete system of waterworks was installed. An agriculture department, home economics department, and a lunchroom were added between 1930 and 1946. During this time, the elementary school met qualifications for standardization.

The first county schools were only four months long, so it was necessary to supplement the children’s education. Teachers used to come and board and teach, and some teachers were asked to stay and teach “pay school.” Pay schools were schools which were taught in addition to the county-paid schools and were paid for by the parents.

The first pay school was in 1870, and the teacher was Frank Matthews. Matthews taught in a railroad section house between the railroad tracks and where the James Fussell house on Center Street now stands.

In 1929, the school term had to be shortened because of lack of funds. The school closed early, even though the faculty taught without pay for some weeks, receiving their room and board in the community’s homes.

The 1955-56 school year was the last year Rose Hill had a high school. The next year, Rose Hill and Wallace high schools were consolidated into Wallace-Rose Hill High School in Teachey. However, the elementary school remained in operation until it was destroyed by fire in 1969.

(A SPECIAL THANKS to Sallie W. Blanchard for her help with this and other columns.)