"FREEPORT AS IT WAS" BY CLINTON E. METZ
SCHOOL DISTRICT 9 HIGHLIGHTS
FREEPORTS FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE WAS REPLACED IN MID CENTURY BY A NEW ONE STORY BUILDING ON MAIN STREET'S WEST SIDE, SEVERAL DOORS NORTH OF MERRICK ROAD. IN 1857 WHILE CARPENERS ADDED A 2ND FLOOR, ANDY RHODES WAGON SHOP WAS NEARBY WAS RENTED FOR 3 MONTHS AT A TOTAL COST OF $8. ADDITIONAL SCHOOL FACILITIES WAS SOUGHT AS EARLY AS 1872 BUT MET WITH STRONG OPPOSITION.
AFFTER 22 METTINGS TRYING TO AGREE UPON A NEW SCHOOL SITE, THE DISTRICT VOTERS CHOSE TEH NORTHWEST CORNER OF PINE AND GROVE STREES FOR A $3,858 BUILDING. WHEN IT OPEND IN 1875 GEORGE WALLACE, FUTURE ASSEMBLYMAN, VILLAGE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, BECAME PRINCIPAL.
DISTRICT NO. 9 ADDOPTED A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF TEXTBOOKS IN 1877 AND FOLLOWED IT 10 YEARS LATER WITH A STILL MORE PROGERSSIVE STEP FREE TEXTBOOKS.
ONE OF FREEPORT'S MOST DRAMATIC FIRES OCCURED JAN. 10 1893 WHEN THE WOODEN SCHOOL WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE DEPITE HEORICE EFFORTS OF EXCELSIOR FIRE COMPANY VOLUNTEERS.
A WEST WIND HURIED SPARKS AND CINDERS UPON THE ROOF OF JOHN HOLLOWAY'S HOUSE AND METHODIST CHURCH BUILDINGS, THREATENING THE BUSINESS HOUSE AND AREAS JUST BEYOND. FORTUNATELY THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND . BY TOSSING SNOWBALLS ON THE ROOFS, THE VOLUNTEERS PREVENTED A GENERAL CONFLAGRATION. THIS BLAZE ALERTED OUR COMMUNITY TO THE NEED FOR A WATER DEPT. AFIRE HYDRANTS AND AN ORGANIZED FIRE DEPARTMENT.
NO TIME WAS LOST IN BUILDING A NEW SCHOOL DIAGONALLY ACROSS FROM THE OLD SITE, AT A COST OF $30,000. AN ADDITION IN 1903-1904, REQUIRED SIMILIAR FUNDS, ENABLED THE STRUCT TO HOUSE MORE PUPILS IN THE GRADES, BESIDES ACADEMIC HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES.
