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Obituary
The 1932 High School Ends its Life at 56 Years
A Preview First
In 1931 the Bartlett Special School (at left), which was built in 1890, caught fire and was totally destroyed. Life-span of forty years.
Mr. Sal Manna was a high school teacher in the 1950's and he encouraged and helped operate a skating rink in the front yard.
The 1890 building was replaced in 1932 with the building shown at left. It served as the high school, grades 9 - 12, until 1958. Beginning in 1959 Bartlett high-school aged Students attended Kennett High School in Conway. From 1959 onward it served as the Junior High School, grades 7 and 8, for Bartlett and Jackson. It had a large cafeteria in the basement level along with a wood shop that taught basic carpentry skills. There was a full size gymnasium on the upper floor. It's demolition in 1988 gave it a life-span of fifty-six years.
This 1960ish photo shows the 1932 building and an addition for the primary grades 1-6. Grades 1 & 2 were combined as were Grades 3 &4. Grade 5 and 6 mostly had their own rooms. In some years there were too many students and grades 7 and 8 were moved to the gymnasium for a year. A series of large blankets stretched across the room to divide the two grades.
The aerial photo below is dated 1952. It shows the Railroad Station at the lower right, and the school middle left. The St. Joseph Catholic Church (today's Bartlett Historical Museum) is to the left of the school building. The smaller building on the left side of the school property was used from time to time as both a Grammar School and for the High School for a short time. It was eliminated in the late 1950's to make way for the new elementary grades wing. The building next to the Church was where Dave Dudley and family lived until it burned in the 1960;s. Dave was the friendly guy in the train caboose. He always waved to the kids. The house at the top center was originally the 1896 Chapel of the Hills. It was first on the opposite side of Route 302, in front of the school, and after its life as a church, it was moved across the street and made into a residence. Wilfred Mead lived in the house at top left.
On to the Main Event: Carnage and Destruction
Perhaps this ending for the title of a main article is anticlimactic but I wasn't paying much attention on the day of this demolition, although I did manage to snap a few pictures and obviously I had enough interest to drive "over the river" to find out where the remains were going. That's about all I have to say about this part.
ALL THAT REMAINS IS A PILE OF RUBBLE THAT GOT BURIED "OVER THE RIVER" IN A FORMER HAY-FIELD EAST OF THE GARLAND FARMHOUSE.
TO END ON A HIGH NOTE, HERE IS HOW IT ALL ENDED UP IN 2025
