The ANDERSON SCHOOL FOR BOYS 1908-1912 took over the old MOONEY SCHOOL on the south side of East Main Street in Murfreesboro.
On March 28, 1908, the School Trustees received from W. D. Mooney and wife Grace R. two parcels of land, the MOONEY SCHOOL and the home on High or Highland Avenue.
The first parcel included the complex of the School Building, the Dormitory, and the Athletic Field. In 1910 another dormitory was built to the west of the existing one, and at some time both were stuccoed. On August 7, 1911, the School Trustees Newton C. Maney, W. T. Smith, and John E. Richardson sold to George D. Nelson and wife Cora Bristol the home and dormitory property on Highland.
Mr. Anderson, the headmaster, had been a teacher in the MOONEY SCHOOL.
Of the students, Alf Miles was one who attended both the MOONEY and the ANDERSON SCHOOLS. He received a medal his senior year for athletics and became the first athletic coach at MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE NORMAL in 1913. John Overall and Claude McMillan from Erin were also on the ANDERSON football team.
When the school closed in the spring of 1912, MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL rented the two boys’ dormitories and named them Craddock and Forrest Halls. The School Building was used as a high school before CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL was built on Maple Street. On March 23, 1920, J. H. Reed and wife Sarah H sold to the County Board of Education the MOONEY SCHOOL property on Main Street, and in 1921 the School Building became EAST END GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
SOURCES: Rutherford County, Register’s Office, Deed Book 49, p. 316; Book 54, P. 348; Book 63, P. 530. *Gene Sloan, “Mooney School’s Master,” The Daily News Journal Accent, Sept. 25, 1977, pp. 8-10. *Homer P. Pittard, “Famous Institutions Once Taught Local Students 100 Years Ago,” The Daily News Journal, Nov. 13, 1963, p. 12. *Elizabeth Brigham, at whose mother’s home Claude McMillan boarded.