Jarratt school
Future Community Center
I know that Will Beauchamp tells a story of his mother having the last official event in the Jarratt School in the 1950' s when she attended her wedding shower. My memories of the school house are from 1973-74, when Will's cousin Thea Shieve (Skoruppa) and her family moved back to an old family farm house.
For whatever reason, her family started a clean up effort at the school. Essentially they cleaned enough to get into the door and look around. I remember being amazed at how cool the building was, even in the summer. The tall window's (mostly broken) were all on the side facing the southerly breeze.
The idea of having a community center as late as the 1950's without indoor plumbing was quit shocking. Yes I saw the two seater outhouse, and even had the opportunity to use one of the seats.
Nature took back over after this intrusion and soon the facility was hidden behind brush, thorny plants and whatever varmints chose to live there. Over the years others may have intruded into the facility, but for the most part it was largely ignored. Every once in a while someone would say "someone ought to do something with the old Jarratt..."
My Mom and other members of The Auxiliary Swinney Switch Incorporated decided to take on the challenge. After acquiring possession of the facility, the men and women of TASS Inc set to work. First thing was to clear a path to the building . Many hot sweaty hours of labor got the grounds cleared. There were stumps and thorny plants waiting to trip or attack you, but, you could get to the front door.
Of course, that just meant more work. The inside was some what scary,
Stay tuned for more information!