|
Perry High School 1939
Houston County has long been known in the State for its superior
school system. The first school, Houston County Academy of
Perry, was chartered in 1824 by the Georgia Legislature.
One acre of land for the school was allotted by the Houston Inferior
Court at the appeal of the school's first Board of Trustees comprise
of citizens: Howell Cobb, James Holt, C. J. Patillo and Wilson
Collins. The site was known as "The Commons" and later "Armory
Grove". In the 1950s, long after the old academy building was
demolished, the site became the location of the National Guard
Armory building which was named in honor of Perry's General Courtney
Hicks Hodges.
By 1826 there were two academies in Houston County, the Houston
County Academy in Perry and the Flint River Academy on Hog Crawl
Creek in what today is Macon County. By 1860 there were 9
other schools in the county. Some of which were known as "Old
Field Schools" due to the fact the facilities were located on old
fields donated by local planters.
By 1853 there was established in Perry on a lot donated by Samuel
D. Killen, the Perry Baptist Female Seminary. The name was
changed in 1854 to Houston County Female College. The first catalog
lists 113 students from Houston and several surrounding counties as
well as two students from out of state.
In 1919 the state mandated parents enroll children in school.
It was in that year that James Madison Gooden came to Perry as
Superintendent of the growing Houston County School system. It
was under his leadership that the various small schools throughout
the country were consolidated to create efficiency in funding and
administration. In 1924, by legislative action the Perry
Consolidated School System was formed embracing a 5 mile radius.
The same year an $85,000 bond issue was authorized to fund the
building of a new brick school house on Main Street in Perry.
Today this building is still in use by the Houston County Board of
Education as its administrative headquarters.
Early school records will be added to this site in the future.
 Family Pages
on this site sometime include copies or transcriptions of family
records.
|
