The Extract (Church Mountain) School was one of the shortest-lived
schools in Rockingham County. The Excelsior Oak Extract Company was a
major employer in the Fulks Run area from the late 1800s to the
mid-1920s. Called the "ooze factory" by local residents, this
business, owned by General Roller, "extracted" a variety of products
from the oak trees in the area. The plant was located a short
distance north of Fulks Run at the base of Church Mountain.
In November of 1922, Mr. William Cook appeared before the Rockingham
County School Board to request that a school be built to provide
schooling for the residents of the houses at the plant. Initially the
school board, after surveying the school-age population of the area,
refused to build the school. However, they apparently relented and
the Extract school opened for the 1923-24 school session. There is no
record that the county built a school building so the school was
apparently held in a building owned by the factory or by the local
residents. The school board employed Lelia Moyers to teach at the
Extract school. During the 1924-25 school session she had 29 pupils
and taught a 123 day session. Family names included Cook, Crider,
Dove, Fulk, Hottinger, Miller, Turner, and Whetzel. The following
year, Anna M. Lloyd was employed as the teacher with an enrollment of
21 pupils for a 112 day session. Apparently the average membership
dropped below the number required for a legal average (20) and the
school was closed at the end of an abbreviated 1924-25 session. Some
of the students continued their education at Genoa and Fulks Run, but
many either left the area or dropped out of school.
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