© Jerry F. Couch
Today I have a special treat for you. Some of the material for this article was provided by a generous local “friend of history” to whom I say THANK YOU!
First, some background information is in order. The main building of the old Temple Hill High School was destroyed by fire on January 23, 1948. Due to a suspicious number of Russell County’s school buildings being destroyed by fire within a span of few years, and a lack of evidence to the contrary, arson was naturally considered. It was never proven, however. The chronology of these fires will be presented as a follow-up to this article.
In an article from the February 8, 1948 edition of the Roanoke Times, some youthful local heroes were recognized for their role in mitigating the destruction at Temple Hill. The following is a partial transcription of that article:
BOYS SAVE RECORDS
About $1,000 worth of equipment and all the permanent records of Temple Hill High School at Castlewood, which burned Jan. 23, were saved by alert students, it has now been estimated. The main building was a total loss.
Five high school boys, Charles Cooper, Alonzo Beauchamp, Jr., “Midge” Porter, Harry Bratton, and Jack Robinson, ran from their homes, all approximately two miles from the school building, in a midnight blizzard. First, they helped the fireman drag up their hose. Then, thinking of the basketball team’s new uniforms which had just arrived that day, they turned their attention to getting into the principal’s office where they knew the uniforms were stored.
They erected a ladder against the burning building, broke, a window leading into the principal’s office, and cleared it of valuables equipment. Besides the ten uniforms and other athletic equipment, they rescued the safe containing the records and other files, three movie projectors, two films, a radio, a record player, a typewriter, desk chair, and desk drawers.
I’m taking an unusual approach in this article – starting the story at the end instead of at the beginning. This is because the story of Temple Hill didn’t come to an end in the smoking ruins of the school building. It continued on until the conclusion of the 1949-1950 school year.
After the fire at Temple Hill, some of the school’s faculty and administration, along with the upper grades, were temporarily relocated to Lebanon High School. There, they retained their separate identity as Temple Hill High School students, not Lebanon High School students. Meanwhile, temporary buildings (referred to by students as “the shacks”) were hurriedly erected on the Temple Hill campus and members of the Class of 1950 were able to complete their educations there. The new Castlewood High School building at Banner’s Corner was completed in time for Temple Hill’s 1950 commencement exercises to be held there.
The students who graduated on May 26, 1950 were Temple Hill’s final graduating class. The Castlewood High School Class of 1951 was it’s first graduating class. It was a new beginning and the expense was unprecedented in Russell County. Community members were very supportive of the cost for they knew it was an investment in their children’s future.
Here is Temple Hill’s 1950 commencement invitation.
The following article is from the May 14, 1950 edition of The Roanoke Times:
The Temple Hill Class of 1950 consisted of 40 students. Here are their names:
Lille Ann Barnette, Pauline Beavers, Anna Sue Bratton, Dixie Deen Dickenson, Faye Joan Hall, Mary Magdaline Holmes, Irene Elizabeth Irick, Stella Marie Johnson, Evelyn June Kiser, Tina Carolyn Meade, Joyce Ann Meade, Peggy Scott Minnick, Eula Elizabeth Osborne, Gay Nell Osborne, Catherine Peggy Robinson, Goldie Marie Saddler, Anna Mae Salyer Porter, Mary Jo Sargent, Frances Lee Turner.
Gene Thomas Alley, Hugh Jackson Bartee, Irving Alonzo Beauchamp, Jr., William Carlye Byington, James Ernest Campbell, Charles Richard Cooper, Kenneth Lee Dorton, Billy Maxwell Ervin, George Bennett Hale, Charles Eulis Huff, Asa L. Jessee, William Lee Jessee, Donald Lee Jessee, N. C. Johnson, Bernard Cooper Kiser, Harold Neil Leonard, William Eugene Oney, Robert Perry Patrick, Franklin Robinson, Walter L. Salyer, George Frank Wohlford, Jr.
The article below is from the April 17, 1950 edition of The Roanoke Times. It describes Temple Hill’s prize-winning entry in the Russell Literary League’s One Act Play Contest.
Below is the 1950 Temple Hill High School student directory. Some of the names will be very familiar to our readers. Here, you can see them through the eyes of their peers.
TO BE CONTINUED….
