Lonely Schoolhouse - BLInspirations

By Laurie

In March 2018, we visited Beverly’s sister in Sevierville, TN (for those not familiar, ‘Sevier’ is pronounced like ‘severe’). Not far from their house we passed this old schoolhouse in a cow pasture along Boyds Creek Highway in Sevier County. Before we left, I returned to take some photos and have since learned some of it’s history:

It was originally known as Island View School, so named for the view of Buckingham Island in the French Broad River, which can be seen across Boyd’s Creek Highway from the school. This schoolhouse was built in 1918, and used until 1949.

On August 5, 1895, landowners sold the two-acre tract of land to the school’s Trustees for $34.00. In the fall of 1917, a powerful storm (referred to by the neighboring residents as a cyclone) blew the original school building over. In December, 1918, material for a new school house was purchased for $558.92. In 1919, new desks were purchased for $121.40, maps and charts for $24.47. Supplies such as wood, kindling, and brooms were also provided.

The school operated until 1949 when it was consolidated into the new Boyd’s Creek School.

Since Island View closed, it has been used for different things (including hay storage) but now it is home to wasps, birds, and mud daubers. From what I’ve read, the blackboards are still on the plank walls, the cubbyholes for student lunches and belongings are still in the anteroom, and the remnants of desks are still evident in various places. There was no electricity, there was an outhouse, water was pumped by hand outside the building, and it was heated by wood with a potbellied stove in the center of the room. Since there were no lights, it was reported that on days when it was stormy and cloudy, you could hardly see the book you were reading.