As I sat down to write this, I realized this is the last column for this first month of the New Year. Where has the time gone? The days and weeks are just speeding by. February is around the corner with two events to celebrate at the library -- Valentine's Day and Black History Month.
Congratulations to Kelsey Parmenter who was crowned Miss Rodeo Arkansas on Saturday night, Jan. 24, 2015, at the Rodeo Community Center in Springdale. She will compete for Miss Rodeo America in December in Las Vegas, as part of the National Finals Rodeo of the Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association. We are working with Kelsey to find a date she would be available to read at a Wednesday or Saturday Story Hour for the kids.
Since our library was relatively quiet, I thought another lesson in Pea Ridge history might be appropriate. I am a relative newcomer here and there is much I don't know. So another internet search turned up some very interesting facts about Pea Ridge Schools.
The first known school to operate at Pea Ridge was the Shelton Academy, opened in 1851, with a Professor Lockhart as teacher. For unknown reasons (possibly low enrollment and inadequate funds), the school closed in 1858. In 1874, the Reverend Elijah Buttram opened a school at Buttram's Chapel outside town, with Professor John Rains Roberts as principal. After five years, the school, sponsored by the Masonic lodge, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and local patrons, was moved into Pea Ridge where, in 1880, a two-story brick schoolhouse was erected. The school was granted a charter as an academy in 1884, and in 1887--88, the building was enlarged to accommodate 250 pupils. Professor Roberts directed the academy until 1894. Nannie Roberts, his sister, devoted her long career to teaching younger pupils at Pea Ridge Academy and later in the public school. By 1914, the academy was known as the Pea Ridge Masonic College.
It operated until 1916, offering elementary, high school and college-level instruction. Then, as community sentiment favored forming a public school system, the college was closed, and the property deeded to the Pea Ridge Public School. In 1930, the school district dismantled the college building and constructed a one-story building on the site. Principal Joe Roulhac, a noted local educator and carpenter, supervised the design and construction. Extra wings were added in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This community landmark, which housed the entire school before 1948, served as home of the Pea Ridge High School until 2001, when a new high school complex was completed on West Pickens Road. The 1930 building was finally razed in March 2005 after estimated costs to update the aging building to current school standards, or to convert it to other community uses, were determined to be prohibitive.
Anyone interested in more information on Pea Ridge Schools should come by the library and read one of the many books written by Mrs. Billie Jines about Benton County Schools that were. A visit to the Pea Ridge Historical Museum will give you much history on Pea Ridge and the surrounding area.
Thanks again for all the book donations. What we can't use will be passed along to those who can. We are still taking donations of used ink cartridges. Each cartridge earns us $2 in credit at Staples.
See you at the library!
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Editor's note: Peggy Maddox is the librarian of the Pea Ridge Community Library. She can be reached at the library at 451-8442 or by mail at P.O. Box 9, Pea Ridge, AR 72751. Library hours are 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. The library web site is www.pearigecommunitylibrary.org and e-mail is [email protected]. The Pea Ridge Community Library has a Facebook site.
Editorial on 01/28/2015