This old wooden structure near the Parramore community in Jackson County has a fascinating history.
This was the Cox School, a one room school used during the 1870s and 1880s. The school served around 30 students who walked to class each day from a distance of as far as three or four miles. All ages attended class together and sat on wooden benches.
There were once many such schools in Jackson County, but very few remain today. The Cox School survived the fate of most of the others because it was converted for use as a detached kitchen on the home of William Henry Cox, a veteran of the Battle of Marianna. When the school closed in favor of a larger facility nearby, the little schoolhouse was rolled on logs to its present location and connected to the back of Cox's large dogtrot house by a covered walk. The house no longer stands, but the "old kitchen" still remains.
A privately funded stabilization and partial restoration of the structure is expected to begin this fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment