GROVE HIGH SCHOOL
HISTORY
In 1906, Dr. E.W. Grove, manufacturer of Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic,
proposed to the people of Henry County that he would endow a high school
with $80,000 five percent interest bearing bonds on condition that the county provide
ample buildings and grounds and make tuition free to mall high school students and
teachers in Henry County. To this end the City Council of Paris contributed about $12,000
and the fiscal court appropriated about $34,000. June 26, 1906, saw the laying of the
cornerstone with appropriate services by the Masonic Lodge, as was the custom at the time.
Friends present recall that a bottle of Chill Tonic was placed in the cornerstone.
School opened in September 1906, in City Hall. The Chappel Brothers, Clovis and Ashley,
with Mrs. Slayden of Waverly, constituted the first faculty. By mid-winter of that school
year, 1907, the school moved to the beautiful $46,000 two story and basement building of
gray pressed brick that had been erected on Jernigan Heights, a 17 1/2 acre
campus given by Mr. and Mrs. T. P. Jernigan.
In the summer of 1910, a two story and basement dormitory for girls, Cavitt Hall, was
built. By 1927, there was no longer need for a dormitory; hence the first floor of the
dormitory was then converted into a home economics department; two apartments for the
coach and janitor were on the second floor until 1949, the basement of the building served
as a cafeteria for the school.
The Tower building, designed to accommodate 250 students, was inadequate for the
enrollment for twenty years. In 1937, an inadequate gymnasium with two classrooms, which
became the cafeteria in 1949, was erected with W.P.A. funds and labor. In May 1948, the
Henry County Court appropriated funds for a $700,000 building program for the county
schools. Grove's share of the funds was $370,000 for the erection of Weston Hall. In 1958
the Grove Junior High School was built adjoining the High School Campus.
There is one dark spot in the history of these buildings. The following was taken from the
history of the 1944 Senior Class. "There was much excitement around the hill on the
night of January 27, 1943, when Cavitt Hall burned. As we gathered together on that cold,
snowy night and watched the flames envelope the building... " Cavitt Hall, the inside
of which was completely burned out, was remodeled to its present day condition.
(1968) |
