The Fayette County Board of Education was chartered in 1873 to establish public schools in the county. The county was divided into 41 school districts, each corresponding to a rural voting precinct. Each district elected its local school trustees and established a small one or two room school for the students in the area. Funding and resources were limited to the amounts collected in each district. In addition, a county superintendent was elected by popular vote, for a four-year term. The superintendent oversaw all the district’s schools. The first county superintendent was B. N. Grehan.
The first county school was opened during 1873, using the offices of the textile mill at Sandersville. At the time, Captain John H. Carter was the superintendent of the Sandersville school district and Miss Pemberton was the teacher. Shortly afterwards, a single room, schoolhouse was built at Sandersville.[i] The second county school was located on Richmond Road (No. 2), followed by the Chilesburg (No. 3) and East Hickman (No. 4) Schools.
In 1893, M. A. Cassidy was hired as the superintendent for the county, a post he held until 1902 (when he returned to the city schools). His first act as superintendent was to condemn nearly every school in the county. He began a program of repairs to the county schools and developed plans to consolidate the county schools into regional schools. In 1897, he established the Teacher’s Normal Institute, to certify county teachers.
South Elkhorn Schoolhouse, circa 1900 <Faulconer>
Between 1903 and 1905, J. D. Clark was county superintendent. In 1905, Nannie G. Faulconer[1] was elected county school superintendent. She implemented the plan of consolidating the small schools in every district into regional schools. To justify her proposal, she compared the costs of education to the cost of housing an expensive thoroughbred.
Students arriving by horse buggies at the old Picadome School, circa 1905 <Faulconer>
School children riding the interurban trolley to classes, along both Paris and Georgetown Pikes, circa 1910 <UK>
In 1908, Faulconer reorganized the county schools into four districts, corresponding to the points in the compass. These districts were District No. 1 (Southern), No. 2 (Western), No. 3 (Northern) and No.4 (Eastern). The Eastern District included Briar Hill (No. 7), Brighton (No. 16), Bryan Station (No. 11), Elmendorf (No. 22), Faulconer (No. 27), Kirklevington (No. 30), Richmond Road (No. 2) and Warfield (No. 17). The Western District included Fort Springs (No. 15), Locust Grove (No. 1), Parker’s Mill (No. 24), Picadome (No. 20), Republican (No. 13) and South Elkhorn (No. 9). The Northern District included Bells (No. 5), Cave Run (No. 10), Coyle’s (No. 23), Donerail (No. 28), Greendale (No. 31), Lisle (No. 12), Loradale (No. 8), Russell Cave (No. 6), Sandersville (No. 1) and Tyler (No. 21). The Southern District included Athens (No. 18), Chilesburg (No. 3), East Hickman (No. 4), Jack’s Creek (No. 26), Rose Hill (No. 14) and Walnut Hill (No. 25).[ii]
Consolidated Schools:
Between 1910 and 1916, Faulconer consolidated the county school systems. In 1910, the Greendale High School on Spurr Road, near Georgetown Pike, consolidated the old Greendale, Cane Run, Tyler and Donerail schools. This was the first county consolidation school in Kentucky.
Picadome Consolidated School, 1916 <Faulconer>
In 1911, Faulconer changed the school year from six to nine months. In addition, she required that all teachers have the proper credentials, including a teacher’s certificate.
In 1912 and 1916, the Athens and Picadome High Schools and the Russell Cave and Faulconer High Schools were opened, respectively. In addition, she implemented a 6-3-3 curriculum and added home economics courses, industrial arts courses, athletics programs and agricultural instructions.
Dedication of Athens Consolidated School, built in 1912 <Faulconer>
With the consolidation, the county schools began providing free transportation using horse drawn wagons. In 1916, the county purchased its first motor bus.
Farm wagon loaded with students, heading towards Greendale School, circa 1911 <Faulconer>
Builders Photograph of school bus, built by the Delphi Wagon Works, Delphi, Indiana, circa 1911.
First Motor School Bus, purchased in 1916 <Faulconer>
In 1921, the new Linlee High School on Georgetown Pike replaced Greendale. Linlee was named after Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee. Originally a junior and high school, in 1932 it was converted into an elementary school.
In 1921, a new board was elected for the county school system, under an anti-Faulconer platform. Faulconer was forced to resign over financial problems arising for the expansion and post war recession. The system lacked the funds to pay teachers, who were issued script that was accepted by the local merchants.[iii]
During 1922, Professor George M. Baker, of the University of Kentucky, was appointed her successor. He stabilized the budget, instituted a uniform salary schedule based upon seniority and education and required that all new teachers be college graduates. By 1929, all teachers met this education requirement.
In 1925, Baker was succeeded by Mattie Dalton. Dalton promoted the formation of Parent Teachers Associations for each school. She also encouraged her teachers to join the national and state teachers’ association.[iv]
In 1926, the Russell Cave High School was destroyed by fire and new elementary and high schools were built on the site. During 1929, the Athens High School was established in eastern Fayette County. In 1933, Bryan Station High School was built in northern Fayette County, while both Linlee and Russell Cave High Schools were mothballed. In 1934, the county opened Kenwick, Brian Hill and Shelby Schools.
In 1929, Colonel D. Y. Dunn was elected county school superintendent. He served until 1948.
Kenwick School built in 1934 <Faulconer>
Col. D. Y. Dunn <UK>
In 1939, Lafayette High School was built on the site of William A. Leavy’s farm known as “The Elms.” He was one of the original members of the city school’s committee. Lafayette replaced Picadome, which became an elementary school.
Lafayette High School, built in 1939 <UK>
Segregated Schools:
Following the Civil War, a number of small villages were established around Fayette County, to house the freed slaves from the surrounding farms. During the 1870s, these communities built schoolhouses, usually one or two rooms, to educate the black children. These schools provided a primary education.
The segregated schools were:
Athens School - on Boonsboro Road, in southeastern Fayette County.
Avon School - on Briar Hill Pike (at the intersection with the Lexington & Eastern Railroad), in eastern Fayette County.
Bracktown School* - on Leestown Pike, in northwestern Fayette County.
Briar Hill School - on Briar Hill Road, in eastern Fayette County.
Cadentown School* - on Todds Road, in eastern Fayette County.
Coletown School - on Walnut Hill Pike at DeLong Road, in southern Fayette County.
Fort Springs School* - on Versailles Road and Fort Springs Pike in western Fayette County.
Gilead School - on Jacks Creek Pike, in southern Fayette County.
Jonestown School - off Tates Creek Road, in southern Fayette County.
Little Georgetown School - on Parkers Mill Pike, in western Fayette County.
Maddoxtown School* - on Huffman Mill Road, in northern Fayette County.
Pricetown School - on Todds Road and Cleveland Pike area, in eastern Fayette County.
South Elkhorn School - on Harrodsburg Pike, in southwest Fayette County.
Uttingertown School* - on Royster Pike, off Winchester Pike, in southern Fayette County.
Warrentown School - on Paris Pike, two miles east of Lexington, in eastern Fayette County.
* Established during the 1870s.
In March 1910, the citizens of Coletown and Gilead approved the extension of the school term to seven months, from five months. The local citizens raised the funds for the extension.[v]
In 1929, the county schools built Douglas School on Price Road, for black students. The school was named for Frederick Douglas, a famed abolitionist. Following the Second World War, the county school system consolidated all grades at Douglas.
[1] Nannie Gastineau Faulconer was born around 1865, in Lexington and graduated from the Hamilton College. She became a teacher with the Lexington Public Schools. In November 1905, she was elected Superintendent of the Fayette County Public Schools. She severed in that capacity for 16 years, until 1921 when she resigned over financial problems. She then became the librarian of the Morehead Teacher’s College. She died during 1940. In 1906, the city annexed a portion of the county that included Faulconer’s home. The city exempted her residence. Under state law, she was required to maintain her residence in the county.
[i] Lexington Herald, February 1, 1898, page 2, column 3.
[ii] Lexington Leader, July 16, 1908, page 5, column 3.
[iii] Lexington Herald, March 5, 1921, page 8, column 5.
[iv] Lexington Herald, May 3, 1928, page 1, column 1.
[v] Lexington Leader, March 4, 1910, page 4, column 5-6 and March 18, 1910, page 12, column 7.
