The building of a Union County School \ D. Wayne Goforth Director

The building of a 21st Century School for Union County


The School!

Paulette Elementary
Week 6


By Chip Brown | Maynardville@gmail.com

In the video to the left we visit the excavation company while the pan is stuck. The problem is building the retention pond with a huge pan. While I was there the pan slid off into the pond. Tiny, the big dozer is down for repairs, so the operator was left to his own devices to get the pan out of the pond. In what I will have to say was an excellent job he extricates the pan and never misses a beat.
I got to the site early on Saturday to find the crew moving dirt from the building site to the retention pond. I didn't really have a lot to report on. Yes, more footers were poured. Yes, more land is now level. Maybe I could do something on the transmission they were putting in the big dozer. I'll probably do all of that one day but I sat there on my pile of dirt and wondered what future generations would think of this school.

Then it occured to me that many in my generation thought of this as a new school. While it is new to us, it is hardly new to have a school in Paulette! I decided to do a little research into the history of schools in Union County.

A Brief History of Union County Schools (Paulette School Founded in 1888)

It is very interesting that when Tennessee was founded in 1786 its constitution did not even mention education. This was in conflict with the will of the people who had already established private academies in the area. It took another ten years for Tennessee to do anything meaningful regarding schools. With the Cession Act of 1806 Tennessee agreed to provide land for two colleges and an academy in each county. From 1815 to 1830 Tennessee made a cottage industry of passing public education acts. Most were mere window dressing without any means of enforcement.

In 1834 A second Constitutional Convention was held in Tennessee. Many of those who attended did so for the purpose of forcing a state wide educational system. In 1835 the new State Constitution was enacted and provided for a state run school. In 1836 Robert McKewen was appointed the first State Superintendent of Schools. He spent several years pushing for reforms and publishing pamphlets promoting schools. He closely based his school system on those widely in use at that time in northern states.

Unfortunately, McKewen was more interested in the teachings of Horace Mann and publishing pamphlets than he was of running the schools. His leadership seemed very lackluster and after finding the school budget plundered Governor Polk sued McKewen personally.

In 1847 leaders convened a meeting in Knoxville to examine the poor state of schools in Tennessee. The general consensus was that the state schools were failing because most counties refused to comply and fund their schools. Governor Brown then proposed that a state sales tax be levied to pay for a school in each county. This was not a very popular idea and the legislature refused to hear it.

Later in 1853 Governor Johnson made several recomendations on improving the state's system of schools, including a taxation to fund them. Unforunately the coming war forced all talk of education to the back burner. Johnson never lost sight of his goal and after the war was soon President of the United States. He urged Tennessee and all other states to reform their school systems. In 1867 Tennessee finally came around and passed an act for the reorganization, supervision, and maintenance of common schools. The statute provided for the establishment of the office of state superintendent of education, and provided sources of revenue for the fledgling system.

The state of Tennessee finally had a school system.

Unfortunately once again it found itself flawed. There was segregation to contend with. Also the problem of school placement. Counties were so sparsely populated that placing one school would help some of the people but not others. Rarely, did a county have the funds for more than one public schools. The private academies were still winning the day leaving education in the hands of mainly the wealthy.

At its best in the 1800's the state school system was inadequate. It barely promoted primary schools (grades 1 through 8) and did little or nothing for secondary education. Many were faced with finishing school with the 8th grade or moving away from their families to go to a secondary school (grades 9 through 12) in the nearest large city. It was during this time in 1888 that Union County built the first Paulette School.

In 1899 Tennessee law changed to require the establishment of facilities for secondary education in each county. The legislature allowed each county court to collect taxes to establish high schools. The legislature demanded though that high schools would not be permitted to draw any money from the funds set aside for primary schools.

By this time the general woes and wins of the state school system were mirrored inside Union County. We had a few schools but they were poor. In fact several were held in churches, for only a few months a year and were often funded by private citizens. But with all of its faults Union County was slightly ahead of the curve. By 1890 most every child in the county lived within walking distance of a community school. Now we must say that these schools were only one room with one teacher. Also we should point out that walking distance was up to three miles.

The Yearbook of Education listed all the Superintendents of Schools in Tennessee. A gentleman named M.T. Colvin is listed as the first Superintendent of Schools for Union County. He was paid the handsome sum of $75 a year, telling me he was either very poor or had a second job.

In the early 1900's most schools in our county were held in churches. There were a few private academies with their own buildings. But for the large part schools in Union County were in bad shape. Union County was to benefit from the Great Depression! I know this is a strange way to look at the era, but we did. During the New Deal the Federal Government launched building projects. Some of these projects built dams and others built schools. Union County had several community schools built during this time. The WPA was instrumental in putting a new school in almost every community.

The picture of the old school building to the right is the Paulette School around the mid 1920's. Water was not supplied to the school, in fact kids had to take turns carrying water from a creek nearby. This water was used for washing and drinking. The drinking water was kept in a bucket with a ladle serving as the drinking font. there was no kitchen in the school. Kids brought their own lunches, and many had cornbread, corn or whatever they could easily carry. There was no bathroom in the school at this time. I am told that this school had a two door outhouse. Many of our schools at this time didn't have this luxury. According to the book by Kathleen Graves (one of my favorite teachers) many schools used nearby wooded areas for the purpose.

The mid 1900's brought about consolidation of schools. Transportation and roadways had progressed to the point that kids could travel farther to get to school. This brought about the extinction of many community schools. Big Ridge School was built in the 1950's and closed down many nearby schools. In the early 1960's the wooden structure that was Maynardville Elementary was replaced by a brick school very much like Big Ridge. Just after Maynardville was built Sharp's Chapel received its modern brick school. This school closed almost all of the small WPA schools in the area.

These schools are still in use today to various degrees. They have been added onto, and re-done several times but they're still there. Some look on them with contempt, but I try to see the history in them. What scientists came through their doors? What doctors saved lives after starting their educations in these buildings? Just how many lives, and generations have these old brick buildings touched? We may never know.

As we continue on with this new Paulette building project, we should never forget the past. We should also not forget to look forward. How will future generations judge us? How many lives are we about to touch? What new inventions or cures will be fostered inside each of these bricks we lay? Will we be able to say we were there when Union County turned a corner?

These kids hold our future, we merely pass on the present to them.


Thank you to each and every person who made this possible.