Extract (Church Mountain)

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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