The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
Menu
Admin Sign-In

The Avon Park School House Fire of December 1895 and Early School Sites

On 4 December 1895, Avon Park suffered the first major structure fire in its municipal history when the community’s second public school building burned to the ground at the corner of South Forest Avenue and West Walnut Street[fa-1895-12-18][maxwell-1976].

Chronology of Pioneer School Buildings

The physical facilities of early public education in Avon Park evolved through three distinct nineteenth-century sites[maxwell-1976]:

  1. The “Little Blue School House” (1888–1892):
    • Established in late 1888 under the direction of pioneer settler William King, who hired Mr. Dewey from Kansas as the first teacher, followed by Walter Byrd[maxwell-1976].
    • Located on the south side of Midway Street (later West Main Street) near the modern intersection with West Bell Street, south of Lake Tulane[maxwell-1976].
    • Built as a one-room frame structure painted distinctive blue, serving as the town’s initial civic assembly hall, Sunday school, and general church meeting space prior to denominational church construction[maxwell-1976].
  2. The South Forest Avenue School House (1893–1895):
    • Erected during 1893 on land at South Forest Avenue and West Walnut Street to accommodate population growth shifting toward the Hotel Verona commercial district[maxwell-1976].
    • Financed by subscription solicited by land agent U. S. C. Perkins, opening on 8 January 1894 with Rev. F. D. Rood and Annella C. Rood instructing nineteen pupils, expanding to fifty-eight pupils by late 1894[maxwell-1976].
    • Deeded to the DeSoto County School Board, although operating under local sub-district trustees[fa-1895-12-18][maxwell-1976].
  3. The Replacement Two-Story School House (1897–1914):
    • Rebuilt on the same South Forest Avenue and West Walnut Street parcel following the 1895 fire[maxwell-1976].
    • Opened on 4 October 1897 under principal Prof. Erving Leander Richardson, serving until the dedication of the brick high school on South Lake Avenue in April 1915[maxwell-1976]. The frame structure was subsequently used for worship by the Church of Christ until destroyed in the September 1926 hurricane[maxwell-1976].

The December 1895 Fire and Community Impact

The Florida Agriculturist published contemporaneous reporting on the catastrophe in its 18 December 1895 edition[fa-1895-12-18]:

“The Avon Park school house burned last week. No insurance. A new stove had been put in the day before. The fire is thought to have originated in the roof. A fine lot of desks that had just been bought were destroyed. The Episcopalians had been holding services there during the summer. Their organ, hymnals and prayer books were lost. The trustees are making arrangements to issue bonds for $1,200 to erect a new building at once. This is the first fire of any consequence in Avon Park.”[fa-1895-12-18]

The blaze consumed the structure, recently purchased classroom desks, and the ecclesiastical furnishings of the nascent Episcopal Church of the Redeemer[fa-1895-12-18]. Although the congregation had been established in 1894 on East Pleasant Street under the leadership of William and Mary King, the parish had utilized the larger school auditorium during the summer and autumn of 1895 for services, storing its musical instruments and liturgical volumes inside the building[fa-1895-12-18][maxwell-1976].

School Governance, Trustees, and the $1,200 Reconstruction Bonds

On 6 June 1894, Avon Park freeholders had voted unanimously (12–0) to establish DeSoto County School Sub-District No. 3, encompassing all of Township 33 South, Range 28 East, and later extending eastward to the Kissimmee River basin[maxwell-1976].

The elected school trustees administering Sub-District No. 3 at the time of the fire were:

Following the December 1895 loss, the trustees took immediate action under DeSoto County School Board Chairman M. F. Giddens and County Superintendent T. J. Sparkman to authorize $1,200 in sub-district school bonds to finance reconstruction[fa-1895-12-18][maxwell-1976].

During the rebuilding period from January 1896 to October 1897, classes resumed on 6 January 1896 in Sargent’s Hall on North Lake Avenue with forty-one pupils under instructors Arthur C. Lincoln and Anna M. Lincoln, maintaining educational continuity until the new two-story school opened in autumn 1897[maxwell-1976].

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. The Florida Agriculturist (DeLand, Fla.), The Florida Agriculturist, 18 December 1895, page 15: state news paragraphs (1895) · newspaper
  2. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976) · book
  3. Belden Publishing Company, Florida Railroad Gazetteer and State Business Directory, 1895, s.v. Avon Park (1895) · book

Something here wrong, or incomplete? The Society would rather know. Tell a volunteer.

Have a question about this record?

← Back to collection

Ask A.P.

Ask the archive

    Try asking:

    0 / 500

    A.P. answers only from the Society's own archive and cites what it used. Questions are not linked to you; search history is stored on your device only (how it works).Ask a volunteer for anything it cannot answer.