In 1916 the
Superintendent
of Madison County Schools, S. R. Butler, and citizens of Ryland,
Maysville, and
Brownsboro, met to discuss plans for a centrally located high school.
One-room
schoolhouses served the communities at Shiloh in Ryland, Maysville, and
Brownsboro. As no county nor state funds were available, the three
communities
raised the money for building materials and donated time and labor to
build a
two-story frame structure. Ben Lawler Sr. donated five acres for the
school to be
built at its present site, located on the southeast corner of the
intersection
of Ryland Pike and Moontown Road. This was the birth of Central School,
centrally located about one mile from each of the three communities.
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL 1917-1931
The
first
consolidated
school in Madison County, Central High School, began classes August
1917 with
eleven grades. The first graduating class in 1918 had two
students,
Gertrude Lawler and Al Crowson. About 1920 a new wing was added to the
building. In the 1920's the high school grades were transferred to
Madison
County High School in Gurley.
An auditorium was located on
the second level where daily chapel sessions were held consisting of
songs,
devotional readings, and prayers. In those early years, students rode
to school
in three covered school wagons and later truck-type buses. Central had
the
first school bus in north Alabama. The bus drivers were Alvie Lawler,
Thomas
Tollie Grant (1888-1938) (SUMC member), John Dotson Acuff (1901-), and
Leslie
Burdine.
CENTRAL
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1931-1981
In
the Spring of 1931
the
school burned. Once again the communities rallied and a one-story brick
structure was constructed with matching funds and the help of local
labor. It
provided classes for nine grades. During the fall of the
early
years there were split sessions allowing students time to pick cotton.
There
was one year for only three months of school because there was no money
to pay
teachers. Until about 1960 many students did not start the school year
until
late October because they were harvesting cotton with their families. The student body was integrated in
1967. In
1973 all the ninth grades in Madison County were moved to the high
schools. In
December of 1981 the school burned again. Temporarily, students
attended a
school made available by the Huntsville City Schools. The new structure
was
completed in 1984. Since more classrooms have been added three times.
Today the
school is simply Central School.
CENTRAL
SCHOOL 1984 to present
John
Ray was
principal
the
first year. A. Lee Rice served 1918 to 1936. Among the first teachers
were
Myrtle Payne, Mary Graham, June Curd, Lucy Mosley, Mrs. Fern Cobb, and
Mrs.
McLain. From 1917 to 1948 Ben Lawler Sr. served as trustee. Others who
served
through 1936 were Bill Acuff, Walter Mellette (1878-1968) (SUMC
member), George
Spelce, Bob Lawler, Frank Jones, Dr. Isaac William Howard (1870-1938),
A. K. Bragg,
Thomas Tollie Grant (1888-1938) (SUMC member), and Harry Frederick
Nance Sr.
Principals since 1936 have been Henry Clay Kennamer (1896-1965), C. H.
Kirkpatrick, Eugene Lusk, Jerry Meeks, H. Gay Rowe, Dorothy Hodges
Mellette
(1908-1998) (SUMC member and Alabama State Teacher of the Year for
1972), 1969
Joe Dooley, 1971 Stephen Murray, Billy Billingsley, Tommy Ledbetter,
Rollin
Gates, Carl Barnes, 1983 Larry Sharp, 2000 Tim Solley.
Sources: The
Heritage of
Madison
County, Alabama,
1998, Central School article,
written by Teresa Harbin Cowles; “Central School, Dedication and Open
House,” 1984; History of
Madison
County Schools, draft copy, undated; Researched and Written by:
Teresa
Harbin Cowles
