The caption on this 1910 postcard reads, “The Murfreesboro School for Boys, also known as the Mooney School, was built in 1903. The large school building has been demolished, but the smaller dormitory still stands at 1028 East Main Street.” This postcard shows the exterior of Central High School prior to it being destroyed by a fire in 1944.
home to two school systems — Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County schools. The city system — 30th in size based on student enrollment of 136 school systems in Tennessee — has about 7,200 students and an operating budget of about $54 million for 2012-13.Itisoneofonlythreein the state that follows the K-6 grade structure. Murfreesboro City operates 12 schools, including a preschool with three locations. Rutherford County is the sixth largest district in the state according to the 2012 state report card. It has 39,941 students in grades K-12, but also supports a Pre-K program at 13 other schools. RCS has an operating budget of $280 million and runs 45 schools, with another under construction.
McFadden School McFadden School is the first in the county to be named after a woman. Elvie McFadden worked among the poor in her neighborhood. Before her death in 1925, she started a church and was promised a school named in her honor. In 1927, the school was built. Since then, it has fallen victim to four fires. A year after it opened, two classrooms and the auditorium were damaged and the school burned to the
ground in 1932 following a stove fire. Arson was believed to be the cause of a1939 fire. In 1953, four classes were damaged by fire. Teachers at McFadden then also served as cafeteria workers. If they prepared soup for themselves using an in-room stove, they also gave some to studentstheyknewmaynotreceive a hot meal at home. The school is located today on Bridge Avenue.
Campus School WhenMTSU,thenknownas Middle Tennessee Normal College,openedin1911,anelementary school was located in the administration building on the university’scampus.Knownas Campus School, the school was created as a laboratory school for the university’s Education Department by an act of the General Assembly in 1909. The school was officially named Homer Pittard Campus Schoolin1985aftertheRutherford County educator who had served as principal at McFadden and Central High schools and director of university affairs at MTSU.
Central High When local school officials opened Central High in 1919, they were determined to give
This postcard shows what Murfreesboro Public School looked like while in operation from 1891 to 1922. This school was the basis of the Murfreesboro City Schools system.
students the best education possible. A community announcement sent out the the summer before the academic year began read: “It is our purpose to make this high school one of the leaders among those of its kind throughout the state. No pains and effort will be spared to reach this worthy end.” Upon its opening, Central wasconsidered as the most
modern in the state with 16 classrooms, cloakrooms, a library, bicycle room and 800seat auditorium. One of the most impressive features were the sanitary drinking fountains located on each floor. Students were so committed to attending school, that they would board trains in FostervilleandChristianaandride into town. Central burned to the ground March 30, 1944, be-
fore being rebuilt. Those who attended CHS all four years were moved to different locations. In the fall of 1944, freshmen students attended classes in Cox Memorial Gymnasium and at Crichlow School (on property now occupied by the Rutherford County Health Department). Grades 10-12 attended classes at MTSU. Today Central is a magnet school. THE DAILY NEWS JOURNAL • 11