Thank you so much for the history of Durfee School. this will be a neat addition to my history as I attended that school. Helen in Idaho > > From: "R L Bradley" <RBradley@exop.net> > Date: 2004/01/17 Sat PM 02:58:02 PST > To: ILMACON-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [ILMACON] Durfee School > > After 109 years of serving as the educational fortress for countless > children, "Taps" was played and the flag was lower for the last time at > Durfee Magnet School Friday afternoon. > Durfee, standing on the northeast corner ofGrand Avenue and Jasper Street, > is a casualty of time and the school district's budget crunch. > > Earlier this year, the Decatur Board of Education voted unanimously to close > Durfee, sealing its fate. > > Sheriff Roger Walker, who attended Durfee School, was on hand to help lower > the flag in front of the school, for the last time, as students, faculty > members and parents gathered to watch the end of school in that building > forever. > > Closing Durfee will save the revenue-starved school district about $300,000 > a year and is part of the board's $7.2 million in budget cuts that have > taken place since the voters rejected a $1.50 per $100 of equalized assessed > valuation in November. > > Ironically, a school that now represents too much expense to operate was or > Pledge of Allegiance is recited. > iginally built in 1892 at a cost of $13,409.64 on lot nine, block one of > Powers' second addition. > > According to public records, the lot for the school was purchased from Mrs. > Caroline M. Powers on Oct. 31, 1890, for $1,252.50 and at the time "was > considered one of the best school sites in the city." > > The Powers name was prominent in early Decatur history as George and Samuel > Powers were early settlers who came to Decatur from Alabama. > > What had once been part of the Samuel Powers farm, would become home for a > school building that would serve the community for well over a century. > > The name for the school was first suggested by John K. Warren, a member of > the board of education, who believed it should b Flag is lowered for final > time. > e named after H. B. Durfee. > > Durfee, who was a native of Ohio, taught school and practiced law in his > home state before moving to Decatur in 1849. > > Eleven years later, when the newly-organized Macon County government elected > officials, Durfee became chairman of the board of supervisors. He also > served on the board of education for 15 years. > > MORE SPACE NEEDED > > By 1900 more space was needed at the school, so an additional two rooms were > added to the north side at a cost of $4,125.83. > > A year later, another two-room addition was added to the southeast corner of > the building at a cost of $4,694.00. > > When that addition was constructed, the building had eight rooms, but the > school's population kept growing -- along with the need for more space. > > Another big addition to the school was constructed in 1915, which consisted > of two stories and provided eight full-sized rooms, and other rooms which > were designated at the time for the branch library, an ungraded room, a > manual training room, a domestic science room. an office for the principal, > an auditorium, a gymnasium, basement and shower rooms. > > Because the new addition housed so much of what was happening at Durfee, it > became the main part of the building and the earlier structure became its > annex. > > Then, in 1924 a ten room unit was added to the building at a cost of > $58,000, an imposing price at the time. > > The new addition provided Durfee with a junior high school unit and students > from the northeast part of the city attended there until Johns' Hill and > Centennial junior high school buildings were constructed. > > ONE OF THE LARGEST SCHOOLS IN DECATUR > > By 1931, Durfee had grown to be one of the largest schools in Decatur. > > Before the junior high students were transferred to Johns Hill and > Centennial, enrollment at Durfee reached 1,200 students. > > Durfee was the second school in Decatur to organize a Mothers Club (in 1913) > following the lead of Pugh School. > > The school played an important role in supporting local residents during the > years of the Depression as the Parents' Club, which had by then become the > Parent-Teachers Association, helped many of the families down on their luck > with a nutrition kitchen that was maintained for needy children. > > During one two-month period, nearly 4,000 meals were served. > > Some 442 children from 215 families received clothing and 423 pairs of new > shoes and 150 pairs of used shoes were distributed. > > The group also paid for the cost of repairing 214 pairs of shoes. > > During one extremely difficult period 135 children in the school received > haircuts and "even much-needed baths". > > GLORY DAYS ARE OVER > > Now, the glory days of Durfee are over and the students and teachers, and > parents, have said goodbye to a familiar structure that served them well for > generations. > > When schools re-open in the fall, for the first time in 109 years, Durfee > will not be among them. > > It's hallways and classrooms will be full of memories, but empty of > children. > > The shouts of youthful exuberance will have been replaced by the muffled > sounds of the traffic outside that cut through the silence of what remains > of H. B. Durfee School. > > > > ==== ILMACON Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the list send a message to: ILMACON-L-request@rootsweb.com with unsubscribe as the subject. > To unsubscribe from the digest send a message to: ILMACON-D-request@rootsweb.com with unsubscribe as the subject. > >