Published: November 15, 2008 06:23 pm      

Rededication ceremony Nov. 18 for Granny Richardson Springs one-room schoolhouse at EKU

A shining symbol of Kentucky’s educational heritage will be celebrated Tuesday, Nov. 18, when Eastern Kentucky University re-dedicates the newly renovated Granny Richardson Springs One-Room School.

The 1 p.m. ceremony will be conducted at the school site on Kit Carson Drive across from the university’s Perkins Building. The public is welcome. Speakers will include EKU President Doug Whitlock, College of Education Dean Bill Phillips and Robert Grise, a retired EKU professor and local historian who has often led tours of the facility. Also, the West Irvine Elementary School Choir will perform. Tours will be offered after the ceremony.

A fixture on the EKU campus since it was moved from Estill County in 1976, the schoolhouse has undergone an extensive facelift that includes new weatherboarding, painting, new windows, interior and exterior lighting, landscaping, new concrete walks and signage.

“Many older Kentuckians attended one-room schools and have fond memories of their school days,” said Tom Bonny, retired superintendent of Estill County Schools who now serves as assistant director of the South East/South Central Educational Cooperative. “This schoolhouse serves as a living replica of education in the early 20th century and helps us all to understand some of the sacrifices our predecessors made to provide or receive an education.”

In 2003, EKU’s College of Education launched an effort to raise funds to renovate the schoolhouse. A $35,000 grant from the EKU Foundation augmented approximately $12,000 in money raised through a benefit event starring Carl Hurley and the late Homer Ledford and from individual contributions.

The Granny Richardson Springs School opened in Estill County in 1900, six years before Eastern Kentucky State Normal School was established, and closed in 1964. It was donated to EKU by the heirs of the late Eli Sparks. The Lee County Board of Education donated furnishings.

Thirty-one students were enrolled in the school’s first year. That number grew steadily, especially after oil was discovered in the area, but declined again during and after World War II. By 1963, only six pupils attended.

Martha Elkin (Granny) Richardson was born in 1791 in Clark County and later moved to an area near Brushy Mountain in Estill County. She and her husband, Bradley, had 10 children — eight boys and two girls.

The renovated schoolhouse is again available for school and group tours. To make tour arrangements, call the Dean’s Office in the College of Education at 622-1175.

Also, donations are still being accepted and may be sent to the attention of: Associate Dean Kim Naugle, College of Education, 420 Combs Building, Eastern Kentucky University, 521 Lancaster Ave., Richmond, KY 40475.