This school was located where the
current Phelps Library and Dollar General Store sit now.
The building was the first one built. At first, Mr. Erickson and
some of the missionary workers lived in that building. After the
school opened, that was used as a dormitory for the girl students and female
teachers. The building in the middle was the school building. It
opened in Oct. 1904. Mr. Erickson was the principal. The first
floor was for grade students. The second floor was for high school
students. The top floor with the dormers was where the boy students and
male teachers stayed. Of course, there were local children who attended
the school and paid tuition, but the boarding students stayed on the campus.
The building on the right was built in 1912. It was called the
Domestic Science building at first. That is where the dining room was
for all of those living on the campus. In later years, teachers lived
in the building. Mr. and Mrs. Setzer, who served the school twice,
lived in that building. It was beautiful and it broke my heart when it
got into a terrible state of disrepair and had to be torn down. The
school had three or four names over the years. It was about 1912, I
think, when Mrs. Matthew T. Scott, Jr., gave a sum of money to the school, and
the name was changed to the Matthew T. Scott, Jr. Academy in memory and honor
of her husband. You probably have a picture of the manse which was
built about 1918. It was next to the property where the Phelps High
School was built. The Academy closed in 1932, and that fall, everyone
went to the new high school building. That was the year I started first
grade. The high school burned in 1954 and the new building that stands
today near the road was built to replace it. That building is now used
as an elementary school, and possibly Jr. High. I think the new
building on the right fork of Peter Creek is High School only. I'm sure
everyone is grateful to you for posting this photo. They are getting
more history about the area from your photos.
Mr. and Mrs. Erkckson were the first people to live in the manse.
Presbyterian services were held in the Academy school building for
several years, and later in the old "Free School" that stood in
front of where the Presbyterian Church is today. I think that building
was dedicated in 1925. The Free School (called that because it was
supported by the state) burned in the early 1930s. It had been used
over the years as sort of a community building. Elections were held
there and important town meetings were held there. Also, circuit-riding
Baptist Ministers who passed through held revivals there from time to time.
