Cumby, Hopkins County
MILLER GROVE SCHOOL MILLER GROVE, SETTLED PRIOR TO THE FORMATION OF HOPKINS COUNTY, BOASTS ONE OF THE AREA’S EARLIEST SCHOOLS. COMMISSIONERS COURT RECORDS FROM 1856-57 LIST CHARLES J. PHILLIPS AS TEACHER FOR $65.78 PER TERM AT MILLER GROVE, ONE OF 23 COUNTY SCHOOLS. IN AUG. 1860, FRANKLIN MARRS DEEDED FIVE ACRES TO THOMAS PROCTOR, JAMES DANNELL AND JASON CLARK FOR THE “BENEFIT OF THE CITIZENS AROUND THE MILLER GROVE SCHOOL HOUSE” AND FOR “SEVERAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD.” IN THIS LOG SCHOOLHOUSE, CHILDREN SAT ON HEWED WOODEN BENCHES FOR A SCHOOL TERM TYPICALLY LASTING FIVE MONTHS. IN 1872, I.O.O.F. LODGE NO. 139 BUILT A TWO-STORY FRAME LODGE AND SCHOOLHOUSE WHICH HOUSED A LARGE BELL STILL IN EXISTENCE. THE BUILDING ALSO HOSTED CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS. THE WOODMEN OF THE WORLD’S c. 1907 LODGE HALL SERVED AS THE NEXT SCHOOLHOUSE FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. PAVING OF THE ROAD TO CUMBY AND ACQUISITION OF SCHOOL BUSES RESULTED IN COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL GROWTH. SURROUNDING SCHOOLS AT GREENVIEW, CENTER POINT, CEDAR POINT, PALESTINE, COUNTY LINE, BONANZA, DIVIDE, CROSS ROADS, AND SIMMONS CHAPEL CONSOLIDATED WITH MILLER GROVE FROM THE 1920s TO 1950s. AFTER THE SCHOOLHOUSE BURNED IN 1938, A NEW BRICK BUILDING WAS COMPLETED IN TIME TO START THE 1939-40 SCHOOL YEAR. THIS SCHOOL AND A GYMNASIUM BOTH BURNED A FEW YEARS AFTER COMPLETION AND WERE REBUILT. AT ONE TIME, ALL HOPKINS COUNTY SCHOOLS CELEBRATED AN END OF YEAR STEW AND COMMUNITY PICNIC; TODAY, ONLY MILLER GROVE CONTINUES THIS TRADITION. DURING WORLD WAR II, MEMBERS OF THE DEFENSE TRAINING SHOP REBUILT AN ARMY BARRACKS WHICH SERVED AS THE CAFETERIA UNTIL 1994. A NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL AND GYMNASIUM WERE ADDED TO THE CAMPUS BY 2003. FOR GENERATIONS, THE MILLER GROVE COMMUNITY HAS GATHERED AT THE SCHOOL FOR EDUCATION, ACTIVITIES AND FELLOWSHIP.