Allen School

(Published in the newsletter, SEEKING 'n SEARCHING ANCESTORS, April 1983)

The first school constructed near the Iberia community was located about one mile east of Iberia. On 29 January 1870, Elias and Mary (Gardner) Allen, natives of Barren County, Kentucky, sold a half-acre of land to the township board of education of District #3 for the total of $1.00. The school was located on the old Iberia-Dixon Road, also known as the Iberia-Big Piney Road, and it was given the name Allen School in honor of the Allen family who owned the acreage. It was in existence until after the turn of the 20th century.

Some of the early students who attended the Allen school were from the families of Allen, Durham, Clark, Evans, Groff, Irwin, Hughes, Whalen, Cramer, Robertson, Dickerson, and Marchant.

Some of the early teachers listed who taught at the old school were:

1874-75........................................................................... Joseph Allen
1875-76........................................................................... James S. Martin
1876-79........................................................................... Marcia O. Smith
1879-80........................................................................... John W. Waite
1880-82........................................................................... Marcia O. Smith
1882-83........................................................................... John B. Tallman
1883-85........................................................................... Fannie B. Hunt
1885-86........................................................................... D. W. Baker
1886-87........................................................................... Mattie Cummins
1887-88........................................................................... W.(ellington) D. Johnson
1888-89........................................................................... Nettie Smith
1889-90........................................................................... P. E. Hayes
1890-91........................................................................... Nellie M. Harrison
1891-92........................................................................... Ernest E. Benage
1892-93........................................................................... Gennie/Jenia Brown
1893-94........................................................................... W.(illiam) A. Colvin
1894-95........................................................................... Wm. T. Thompson
1895-96........................................................................... Ernest E. Benage
1896-97........................................................................... George Ferguson
1897-98........................................................................... John Whalen
1898-99........................................................................... Mary Nelson
1899-1900....................................................................... Charles Messersmith
1900-1901....................................................................... Josie Evans

After the Allen school was no longer in use, the children of Iberia attended classes in a building that was a 2-story frame structure with four rooms downstairs and one large room upstairs. It had a winding staircase and a large double door measuring 6 ft. by 8 ft. This old building was used for only a few years then was auctioned off in 1913.......

After the school was sold, another new school was voted into existence and built but its lifetime was short-lived because it burned after only a short time of use. In 1923, the old brick school (which I attended as a child) was built facing St. Louis Street to the west. It was torn down in the 1950s when Iberia's new R-V School System came into existence.