Schools
The first record of a school in Collinsville other than that run by Alfred Collins, who was a teacher, was in 1879 when Rev. Merit King Clements was appointed principal in Collinsville of the Gadsden District High School. J.B. Appleton was his assistant and Miss Della McWhorter taught piano. Children came in from outlying areas to attend Professor Clements's school and boarded in town. Zac McWhorter was the next head of the school and in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, he taught Greek, Latin, German and Italian.
Douglas Allen, as principal, 1886-1888, published the Educational Advocate, a paper to advertise and support the school. The school became known as Collinsville College because it offered extended courses of first year college level, as well as business and normal courses. The Douglas Allen home on South Valley Street was used as a boarding house to accommodate the lady teachers and school girls and there was a dormitory for the boys. School enrollment was 136, including seven taking the business course and nine in the normal department. Fees charged were: primary, $1.25, intermediate, $2.00, high school, $3 and $4. Textbook were available at a rental of 10% of their wholesale value for five months. School trustees were: Dr. A.J. Vann, B.A. Nowlin, H.R. Jordan, J.H. Collins, W.D. Reed, Dr. J.T. Miller, and M.B. Cunningham. Faculty: Douglas Allen, principal, Miss Mai Ware, primary department, Miss Romie Dearmond, instrumental music. Pupil assistants: Bruce Allen and Miss Tommie Wood.
Collinsville's first school building was a "shot gun" building of logs on the east side of the Collins Cemetery hill. In the early 1880s Alfred Collins deeded a downtown lot behind Nowlin's store to be the property of the town for as long as it should be used for educational purposes. A two-story frame building was erected here for occupancy for the 1887-1888 school terms. The corner stone was laid on June 30, 1887, with formal ceremonies. The school catalog described the building as large and well arranged with one large assembly hall, one study hall, one hall for primary department and several smaller rooms for recitation, and with modern and approved apparatus.
A description of this school was written by Elizabeth McWhorter Isbell: "Grades one, two and three were all taught in a first floor room in the old white wood building which later burned. Miss Bessie Winston of Birmingham was teacher. She felt the need of posters, a chart in teaching reading so a Tom Thumb Wedding was put on to raise funds. The wedding was a success and a chart, etc. was purchased. This I recall plainly as I was "maid of honor". Mrs. Isbell graduated from Collinsville High School in 1922 and moved from Collinsville in 1926 when she married. She continued, "The following year we moved upstairs to second floor where Miss Louise Nicholson was teacher. A large "pot belly" heater supplied heat."
In 1916, the town issued $10,000 in bonds, twenty $500 bonds at 5% interest, and due in 1936, for building and equipping a school building. John T. Bartlett, Mayor, with J.A. Weaver as contractor supervised the erection a new brick building which was occupied in December, 1916.
In January 1917, the brick building was gutted by fire and the remainder of the school year the children attended school in the Methodist Church and graduation took place in that church in the spring. The walls of the brick building were reinforced, the interior rebuilt, and the building was used again the following fall. Elizabeth Isbell wrote the following concerning this fire: "My sister Mary was probably in about tenth grade. They were practicing for a play in which my sister had a prominent role. It was December, the weather was cold, but our family stayed up late to see that Mary got home safely. It seemed she had been home a very short time when the phone rang and we were given the fateful message that the new building, which had been completed only a short time, was on fire! It was generally thought to have been caused by the furnace. A real tragedy-- a great loss!"
A new high school building was erected in 1936 on a level tract of land just west of U.S. highway 11 south of Collinsville. Besides the main building with auditorium and class rooms, there was an athletic building, and athletic field and a vocational building. A nearby building for the elementary grades and a lunchroom was completed in the fall of 1949. To this group of buildings a new library was added in 1961-62. This was enlarged in 1976-77.
The old gym was given to the elementary school and a new one was built in 1967-68 with modern facilities, dressing rooms and concession stand. A lunchroom was started in the auditorium of the elementary school in 1942-43 with Mrs. Mary Clayton as manager. Patrons of the school built tables and covered them with linoleum and made benches for chairs. The high school lunchroom was in the basement of the gym with Mrs. Estelle McWhorter as manager. When the elementary school moved to the Highway 11 location in 1949, the new lunchroom accommodated both elementary and high school students and Mrs. Clayton was made manager. The 1916 building was used for a while for the elementary school and then by Gregory High School. In 1962 the old building was demolished, the corner stone opened and contents stored (2019 in Museum of Collinsville History.)
Collinsville had the first football team in the county, some records say 1920, others 1921. The principal, Mr. Nelson, and the Methodist minister, Rev. Billy Harris, served as coaches. The team was issued pants and shoulder pads but bought their own shirts; they wore plow shoes with cleats nailed on them. The first year they played Cave Spring, Cedar Town, Scottsboro, Albertville, Guntersville and others.
Basketball was started about 1916 as an outdoor sport. The auditorium was used as an indoor court about 1930 but did not prove satisfactory because the ceiling was too low. With the new gym in 1936, basketball became an indoor sport. The Collinsville School Band was organized about 1940 with Ed Eller as first band director.
The first record of a school in Collinsville other than that run by Alfred Collins, who was a teacher, was in 1879 when Rev. Merit King Clements was appointed principal in Collinsville of the Gadsden District High School. J.B. Appleton was his assistant and Miss Della McWhorter taught piano. Children came in from outlying areas to attend Professor Clements's school and boarded in town. Zac McWhorter was the next head of the school and in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, he taught Greek, Latin, German and Italian.
Douglas Allen, as principal, 1886-1888, published the Educational Advocate, a paper to advertise and support the school. The school became known as Collinsville College because it offered extended courses of first year college level, as well as business and normal courses. The Douglas Allen home on South Valley Street was used as a boarding house to accommodate the lady teachers and school girls and there was a dormitory for the boys. School enrollment was 136, including seven taking the business course and nine in the normal department. Fees charged were: primary, $1.25, intermediate, $2.00, high school, $3 and $4. Textbook were available at a rental of 10% of their wholesale value for five months. School trustees were: Dr. A.J. Vann, B.A. Nowlin, H.R. Jordan, J.H. Collins, W.D. Reed, Dr. J.T. Miller, and M.B. Cunningham. Faculty: Douglas Allen, principal, Miss Mai Ware, primary department, Miss Romie Dearmond, instrumental music. Pupil assistants: Bruce Allen and Miss Tommie Wood.
Collinsville's first school building was a "shot gun" building of logs on the east side of the Collins Cemetery hill. In the early 1880s Alfred Collins deeded a downtown lot behind Nowlin's store to be the property of the town for as long as it should be used for educational purposes. A two-story frame building was erected here for occupancy for the 1887-1888 school terms. The corner stone was laid on June 30, 1887, with formal ceremonies. The school catalog described the building as large and well arranged with one large assembly hall, one study hall, one hall for primary department and several smaller rooms for recitation, and with modern and approved apparatus.
A description of this school was written by Elizabeth McWhorter Isbell: "Grades one, two and three were all taught in a first floor room in the old white wood building which later burned. Miss Bessie Winston of Birmingham was teacher. She felt the need of posters, a chart in teaching reading so a Tom Thumb Wedding was put on to raise funds. The wedding was a success and a chart, etc. was purchased. This I recall plainly as I was "maid of honor". Mrs. Isbell graduated from Collinsville High School in 1922 and moved from Collinsville in 1926 when she married. She continued, "The following year we moved upstairs to second floor where Miss Louise Nicholson was teacher. A large "pot belly" heater supplied heat."
In 1916, the town issued $10,000 in bonds, twenty $500 bonds at 5% interest, and due in 1936, for building and equipping a school building. John T. Bartlett, Mayor, with J.A. Weaver as contractor supervised the erection a new brick building which was occupied in December, 1916.
In January 1917, the brick building was gutted by fire and the remainder of the school year the children attended school in the Methodist Church and graduation took place in that church in the spring. The walls of the brick building were reinforced, the interior rebuilt, and the building was used again the following fall. Elizabeth Isbell wrote the following concerning this fire: "My sister Mary was probably in about tenth grade. They were practicing for a play in which my sister had a prominent role. It was December, the weather was cold, but our family stayed up late to see that Mary got home safely. It seemed she had been home a very short time when the phone rang and we were given the fateful message that the new building, which had been completed only a short time, was on fire! It was generally thought to have been caused by the furnace. A real tragedy-- a great loss!"
A new high school building was erected in 1936 on a level tract of land just west of U.S. highway 11 south of Collinsville. Besides the main building with auditorium and class rooms, there was an athletic building, and athletic field and a vocational building. A nearby building for the elementary grades and a lunchroom was completed in the fall of 1949. To this group of buildings a new library was added in 1961-62. This was enlarged in 1976-77.
The old gym was given to the elementary school and a new one was built in 1967-68 with modern facilities, dressing rooms and concession stand. A lunchroom was started in the auditorium of the elementary school in 1942-43 with Mrs. Mary Clayton as manager. Patrons of the school built tables and covered them with linoleum and made benches for chairs. The high school lunchroom was in the basement of the gym with Mrs. Estelle McWhorter as manager. When the elementary school moved to the Highway 11 location in 1949, the new lunchroom accommodated both elementary and high school students and Mrs. Clayton was made manager. The 1916 building was used for a while for the elementary school and then by Gregory High School. In 1962 the old building was demolished, the corner stone opened and contents stored (2019 in Museum of Collinsville History.)
Collinsville had the first football team in the county, some records say 1920, others 1921. The principal, Mr. Nelson, and the Methodist minister, Rev. Billy Harris, served as coaches. The team was issued pants and shoulder pads but bought their own shirts; they wore plow shoes with cleats nailed on them. The first year they played Cave Spring, Cedar Town, Scottsboro, Albertville, Guntersville and others.
Basketball was started about 1916 as an outdoor sport. The auditorium was used as an indoor court about 1930 but did not prove satisfactory because the ceiling was too low. With the new gym in 1936, basketball became an indoor sport. The Collinsville School Band was organized about 1940 with Ed Eller as first band director.