Beech Grove School (aka Eagleville School Black), 1917-1953

BEECH GROVE SCHOOL BLACK before 1917-1953, also known as EAGLEVILLE SCHOOL BLACK, was on the south side of the Allisona Road about one mile from Eagleville. Emmett M. Johnson and wife Odie deeded to the County Board of Education one-fourth acre of land for a school house.

The deed was not dated but was filed in November 1918. The lot which was bordered on the east by the Beech Grove Missionary Baptist Church had previously been owned by L. H. Floyd.

The school was a one-room frame building which burned.

The Beech Grove Church, which had also burned, was rebuilt with a basement to he used as a school.

In a deed signed in 1917, Ed Sutton and wife Bettie sold for $52 two acres of land on the Cheatham Springs Road to the County Board of Education for a new school. A substantial frame building of two or three rooms was erected but was never used. The students preferred to stay at BEECH GROVE.

In 1917 the Board sold the property back to Ed Sutton and wife $500.

Some of the teachers were Jordan, 1927-28; Hickman, 1929; Elder, 1931-32; Lyon, 1933-34; Randolph, 1935; Rogers, 1936; and Newsom, 1937. Alice Cleora Washington was the last teacher in 1952-February 1953.

Most of the students were from Eagleville. Some were from Allisona and College Grove. Family names were Johnson, Woods, Jordan, Sutton, Garrett, Sheffield, Bolerjack, Jones, Rogers, and Kinnard.

In February 1953, Alice Cleora Washington and her students were transferred to CEDAR GROVE SCHOOL, which had been made a two-teacher school.

The Beech Grove Missionary Baptist Church (1057 Allisona Road, Eagleville, Tennessee) building is still standing and is used regularly for church services.

SOURCES: Deed Book 61, p. 22; Book 59, p. 580; Book 60, p. 132. Rutherford County, Superintendent’s Office, School Records under “Beech Grove.” Interview, April 25, 1985, with Pearl Tucker, b. 1892. *Alice Cleora Washington.

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