Elizabeth

Description:	The town of Elizabeth has a long history of education. John S. Sanbach, who came from Virginia, established the Elizabeth Seminary in 1836. The school was also known as Friendship Academy and took place in a long, one-room log building located on Lots 7 and 8 in the town. Friendship Academy was one of the earliest secondary schools in the county and at one time had close to 100 students. A secondary school still flourished in Elizabeth in the mid-1870s with around fifty students and Isaac W. Evans as its superintendent. Evans then opened a Normal (teacher preparatory) school in the town in 1876. At some point during the late nineteenth century, a new frame school building was constructed on the site of the original log school building in Elizabeth. This school became known as Clay College. Its namesake was derived from the surrounding clay earth, which the students tracked in on their feet. Initially a one-story frame structure, it was expanded later with the addition of a second story. The building served both elementary and high school students until 1907 when a new school building was constructed on Lot 75 in Elizabeth. This one-story, frame building served as the grade school, and high school classes continued in the old Clay College building. Elizabeth High School received state accreditation in 1911, the second school in the county, and the first outside of Corydon, to gain this distinction. In December 1935, fire destroyed the 1907 schoolhouse in Elizabeth. With support from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) a new school building was completed in Elizabeth in 1938. During its construction classes were held in various rooms throughout the town. The new one-story, brick building consisted of eight classrooms, an auditorium, and a large gym, and first opened to students in the 1938-1939 school term. In the mid-1950s, Posey, Boone, and Taylor Township Schools consolidated into the South Central School Corporation. Construction of South Central High School was completed in 1958 and opened to students that September. Elizabeth High School closed, with its last class graduating in 1958. In 1970, the South Central School Corporation merged with the Central School Corporation in Corydon to form the South Harrison School Corporation. In late 1985, a new South Central Junior-Senior High School was completed and opened to students January 1986. The older South Central High School building then became South Central Elementary School, which consolidated the grade schools at Elizabeth and Laconia, and these community grade schools then closed.
Origin:	1904-1952
Source:	http://cdm17251.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17251coll5/id/10
Collection:	Harrison County Schools
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
Copyright:	This image may be printed or downloaded by individuals, schools or libraries for study, research or classroom teaching without permission. For other uses contact: genealogy@hcpl.lib.in.us
Geography:	Elizabeth, Indiana
Subjects:	Schools

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