Schools of Southampton Twp.

According to the writings of John H.P. Adams, dated 29 March 1907, a small log school stood about 1 mile west of Chaneysville on a stream of water known as Grubers Creek. The first school teacher was Mr. Ritchy. He also wrote that the next school was built near Shawnee Gap in 1806, on land that belonged to his grandfather, Jacob Adams. Mr. Richard Mood taught there, he married Jacob's daughter Nancy, and was a pioneer in fruit raising here in Bedford County. History tells us of two other log schools in our township; school was held in the Buxton Meeting House which stands beside of Mt. Zion Church. Meanwhile in Beans Cove, school was held in a log church at the foot of Martin Hill.
These first schools were made of chunked logs, with only one door and two windows. A desk was just a slab of wood attached to the wall and pupils ranging from ages 6-30 sat on backless benches. Teachers were hired for one year at a time, they usually "boarded out" among different homes in the area. Besides teaching they had to keep the fire burning and "fetch" water from the nearby spring. Even as late as 1856, "privies" were rarely found near the school house.

Schools were conducted on the tuition plan until 1834, then by state law, free schools were established with a "Common School Fund" of $200,000. Each district had to vote to receive its share in proportion to the number of its taxables, in turn the township had to raise taxes for school purposes. Southampton accepted the plan in 1838.

The school directors of this township in 1846 were...Truman Tewell, William Lashley, Abel Johnson, Asberry Perdew, Isacc Willson and Denton Stevens. When taxpayers in 1858 objected to the states "unreasonable demands" on taxation, teachers' salaries and the conditions of the school buildings the whole board of directors resigned and nobody could be found to replace them. For nine years all the schools in Southampton Twp. were closed. Then in compliance to a court order in 1867 the school doors were reopened. Appropriations retroactive to 1860 supplied the money needed to replace log schools with new frame buildings. With the resumption of school taxes, the children of Southampton were back in school again.

According to "The School Register", a small monthly journal published in Everett, Pa. stated with the school term ending June 5, 1882 there were eight male and three females teachers teaching in Southampton Twp. There was a total of 270 pupils attending school for four months. The cost of running all eleven schools that year was $1309.15.



Keep in mind that Southampton is divided into four imaginary sections, Chaneysville and Hewitt on one side of Tussey Mountain and Beans Cove and Flintstone Creek on the other side.
The schools on the Beans Cove side were:

District #1~~~Flintstone Creek~~~1871-1945

District #2~~~Walnut Grove~~~1872-1954

District #15~~~Pleasant Valley~~~?-1945

When Flintstone Creek and Pleasant Valley were closed the students were transferred to Walnut Grove until 1954.

The schools on the Chaneysville side of Tussey Mountain were:

District #3~~~Point Pleasant~~~1873-1955

District #4~~~Browning School~~~1870-1946

District #5~~~Stony Lick~~~1846-1941

District #6~~~Mt. Zion~~~?-1943

District #7~~~Collin~~~1874-1941

District #12~~~Prosperity~~~1869-1934

District #13~~~Blues Gap~~~?-?

District #14~~~Gordon School~~~1871-1934

When these schools were closed the students were bused to the two-room Point Pleasant School.



At a school board meeting held in the old Election House on May 18, 1934, the President and Secretary of the Tax League of Southampton demanded to the board "close the small schools and lower school taxes, REGARDLESS of the law"! A motion was made in 1938 to consolidate the schools and build a 7 room building, not over $40,000.00. At that meeting several citizens from Beans Cove objected to consolidating and bringing their children across Tussey Mountain, they proposed building a two-room school in Beans Cove and only a six-room school near Chaneysville. They took their plea to Harrisburg where they were told, they would have to send their children to the Chaneysville side.

After a few sites were examined, a piece of land across from the Point Pleasant School was selected for the new home of the Chaneysville Elementary School. It's doors opened on Aug. 30, 1954 with 64 students and three teachers. (Cove was added to the name on May 11, 1973). This school stands on 12.08 acres of land owned by Albert Adams, it faces Route 326 and is surrounded on the north, south, and west sides by U.S. govt. land, leased to Dept. of Forest & Waters now (D.E.R.) That first year the 7th and 8th graders and their teacher Rhoda H. Clingerman remained at Point Pleasant. They crossed the road each day to eat lunch in the new school. Point Pleasant was closed in 1955 when the older pupils were bused to Everett Area High School.

Chaneysville-Cove Elementary has three classrooms with two grades each for K thru 5th graders. A separate pre-fab library was added in the 80"s. Then in 1997, volunteers built another classroom freeing up space for a computer room. In the early 70's our district paid tuition to Allegany Co. Md. for the Beans Cove-Flintstone Creek 7-12th graders to attend school in Flintstone, Md. This was partly due to the time spent riding a school bus and because a school bus is not allowed to travel over the mountain loaded. Students in grades 7-12th on the Chaneysville-Hewitt side (along with a few students from the other side) of Tussey Mountain went to Everett Area High School.

Beginning with the school term of 2000-01, the students who live in Beans Cove now come over the mountain in vans to Chaneysville-Cove Elem. to catch the bus so they may attend Everett Area High School. Six graders are also bused to Everett Elementary.