Bill Hudgens
The first teacher, J.H. Johnston from Newport, came here quite by accident. He and some friends had come to this area to hunt, and met "Uncle George" Nichols, who convinced Mr. Johnston to come back here to teach school. Mr. Johnston did return with his bride and homesteaded the property south of Potter's Bridge. It was on this property that the second year of school was held. After two years of teaching, Mr. Johnston died suddenly, leaving his young widow and two small children. The children, Ada Johnston Byler and J.H. "Bud" Johnston remained in this area their entire lives and, with their descendants, made immeasureable contributions to the school and community.
In addition to Mr. Johnston, early teachers included Noah Hazel, Clara Childs Hirschman, and Mabel Marshall, and a Miss Dickie. John Potter, Edwin Marshall, and the Johnston children were among the pupils of those years.
After a few years, the school was moved to town--in the Odd Fellows Hall located at the present site of Graves Service Station. Noah Hazel and J.R. Wiggington were teachers, but little is known of this period.
The community had been developing from its original canebreak to a modest town centered around the present Main Street. On land that was either donated by or purchased from Charlie Greenwood, a third schoolhouse was built about 1900. This frame structure was located across from Dutton's (later Cockrell's) garage. It was to be the center of Lepanto education for many years. The original owner of the land, Mr. Greenwood, was the father of Mrs. J.H. (Dalton) Weatherly, who later taught in the system for 35 years.
There are no reliable enrollment figures for this period, but the community was apparently thriving with a growth in school attendance. In 1913, a two-story brick building was completed, which, with its later additions, served as both elementary and high school until 1948 and as elementary school until 1965.
This building, located on the present site of the Murphy Funeral Home, is probably remembered by more Lepanto alumni than any other building. In its later years, it showed the wear of its 52 years of use, actually being propped up with telephone poles. It was vacated and razed in 1965, when a large elementary building was erected adjacent to the high school.
Due to either overcrowding or transportation problems, the district operated several "wing schools". Some of these included Jernigan, Greenwood, Red Oak, Rivervale, and Spear Lake. These were abolished in the 1950's when all students were educated on the central location. In the early 1960's, the Spear Lake building was renovated for use of black students until integration was completed in
1966-67.
