The school at Keezletown was one of the early graded schools in Central District. There had been private schools operating in Keezletown prior to the Civil War but the first public school was constructed in "the old church lot" which was deeded to the Central District school trustees by George B. Keezel on August 24, 1877. The school location is identified in the Keezletown map in Lake's 1885 Atlas of Rockingham County. A two-room frame building was constructed and Charles D. Harrison was the first principal at the new school. This school served until 1899, when the growth of the town required a larger school and land was purchased from George B. Keezle on November 22, 1899. A new four-room frame building was constructed on the new property at the intersection of the Mountain Road and the Indian Trail road. Two additional parcels of land were obtained from George B. Keezel on February 17, 1913 and June 26, 1918. In 1907, the four-room frame building burned and a new brick school was built on the site of the present school at Keezletown. The new school offered one and two years of high school instruction. In January of 1916, fire also destroyed this brick building. The current Keezletown building was built to replace the school destroyed in the 1916 fire. The new school was dedicated in April of 1917. In 1934, a four-room addition and an auditorium were constructed at the school. The addition to the school was financed by a Federal WPA grant and a Literary Fund loan. The addition was designed by architect Raymond V. Long and built by Harrisonburg Building Supply at a cost of $32,000. With the new addition the school started to offer a four-year high school program and became an accredited high school. In 1939, an agriculture shop was built on the hill behind the school. This building was built by NTA (National Youth Administration) labor with the county providing the materials. The total cost of the shop building was $3500. In 1950, the high school was consolidated into the new Montevideo High School and Keezletown became an elementary school. In 1960, a three-room addition was built at the back of the school by Newman Building Supply at a cost of $36,800 and, in the mid 1970s, the building was completely renovated. Principals who have served at Keezletown school are:

1878-80 (two sessions) Charles D. Harrison

1880-81 S. D. Brewer

1881-83 (two sessions) Miss Belle C. Hannah

1883-89 (six sessions) M. A. Good

1889-90 (unknown)

1890-91 Mattie Aspeck

1891-94 (three sessions) Miss Belle C. Hannah

1894-97 (three sessions) Stamper D. Bloxton

1897-98 L. Gordon Schooley

1898-99 J. N. Fries

1899-1900 Stamper D. Bloxton

1900-02 (two sessions) B. B. Mitchell

1902-05 J. N. Dunivan

1905-06 J. M. Anderson

1906-09 J. N. Dunivan

1909-10 Kenneth Cunningham

1910-12 (two sessions) John Stone

1912-14 J. Tate Hill

1914-15 Harry G. Kanter

1915-16 H. L. Markwood

1916-17 Harry G. Kanter

1917-18 J. H. Bonney

1918-20 (two sessions) Althea Adams

1920-21 Erma Cline

1921-27 (six sessions) R. J. Turner

1927-29 (two sessions) G. L. Lutz

1929-1939 (ten sessions) R. B. Alexander

1939-1950 (eleven sessions) James W. Moyers

1950-53 (three sessions) A. N. Burgess

1953-63 (ten sessions) Everett Wilfong

1963-66 (three sessions) John E. Zigler

1966-90 (twenty-four sessions) Garry Rupert

1990-97 (seven sessions) Larry Barber

1997- Ed Powell

Return to the History of Rockingham County Public Schools or the Rockingham County Public Schools home page .