ELSANOR, Alabama — Crowded between portables down a dead-end road behind Elsanor School sits an almost forgotten building that has served Baldwin County school students for over a century. The building has aged during its long existence and must be either moved or torn down when the new classrooms at Elsanor Elementary are constructed in the near future.

First built in 1913, it has stood there since 1925 when the first red brick school was constructed. When that school burned to the ground in 1985 it was not harmed so it was used to its capacity in many ways. In fact it is still serving as a classroom as I write this today.

It proudly displays a banner and shield that the Baldwin County Historic Development Commission bestowed upon it some years ago. However, that means little at a time when money is scarce and progress must come first.

Do not get me wrong because I realize that Elsanor School rooms are crowded and more classrooms need to be constructed where the first old school stands.

The superintendent informed me that the Board of Education does not have funds to move it. He also said that he does not know if the building is sturdy enough to move.

Yet, there are a few people in the area such as students who learned to read and write in kindergarten classes or perhaps a few teachers who taught there who hold fond memories of school days in the little house.

Most people do not even know nor are concerned that this small building was the first Elsanor School constructed on the Old Spanish Trail in 1913. I knew people who walked through dense wooded paths to the little school in order to obtain an education.

Those who attended this rugged school equipped with oil lamps, a wood stove and crude conditions later attributed much to the community. If they were here today they might be sad to see it go, too.

After the red brick school was constructed in 1925 the first small school was moved behind the new school to serve as a teacherage. Down through the years five different principal/teachers and their families and a few single teachers resided in the teacherage. Teacherages filled a tremendous need for housing in the early days of education because of the scarcity of rental homes in the country and the lack of good transportation.

When my older brother, Ernest Dyess, began his first teaching assignment at a small rural school near Selma he lived in a small two room apartment that had been added on to the large teacherage. Although it only had one bedroom, a kitchen and bathroom it was sufficient. He had to purchase a used car so he was spared from paying rent.

My other encounter with a teacherage was years ago when I was working as a bookkeeper for Swift School. When Frances Stewart, lunchroom supervisor for BCBE sent me to Swift School I worked in the teacherage for nine or 10 years. Over that period of time I was moved from the living room to the kitchen (when kindergarten classes started) then later to a room where commodities were stored.

The first day I met principal/teacher Marie Carver, she handed me a box that contained a few records and supplies. She found a desk for me and ordered a filing cabinet so I could lock up the reports. Most of the teacherages are gone now, but served a good purpose in their day.

When the building was no longer needed as a teacherage, Elsanor P.T.A. decided to turn it into a library since the library books were kept on shelves in the auditorium.

The members worked at night getting the books moved and cataloged. Mothers volunteered to man the library so the students could check out books. The PTA members dedicated the library in honor of Sudie Garrett, a former principal for 13 years and someone even painted a picture of her to hang on the wall because it was under her tenure that pine trees were planted on vacant school land.

But when the state of Alabama mandated that each school in the county provide a classroom for kindergarten students then the books were carted back to the large auditorium. Once more the old school/teacherage/library became a classroom again. The students loved their small classroom even if it was not up-to-date.

When the red brick school burned to the ground one night on Nov. 7, 1985, all the library books and teaching aids were destroyed. The only thing recognizable was the filing cabinet that stood in the small office where arsonists piled records and set them on fire. The drawers were pulled out as if someone was looking for money, however: no money was ever kept at school.

The little building was used not only for a kindergarten classroom but other teachers held classes in there and the school office was set up with a desk and filing cabinet in what was once the laundry room in back.

Baldwin County Historical Society marked the building with a Banner and Shield that Superintendent Thomas presented to Principal Becky Lundberg at a meeting in Fairhope.

Among the people attending the presentation were Vera Bonner and several members of the Moseley family. I was given the opportunity to tell the history of the old teacherage to the group attending.

I know that when those of us who remember this simple little schoolhouse are gone and the new modern classrooms stand in its place that it will be a forgotten memory of early days of education when children were happy just to have a little school in the woods built by their fathers and the new addition will enhance the classrooms constructed a few years ago and the new cafeteria.

Everything that my husband told Larry Newton and the Board members in 1986 has come to pass. John was in real estate business then and he was selling land to people who wanted to settle in Elsanor, so he told them the enrollment at Elsanor was destined to grow.

Time has evolved and we must sacrifice and move on to provide the best education possible for our children. I have always tried to support Elsanor School because I was involved even before I was an employee. Also my three children and four of my grandchildren received their elementary education there. When my children were growing up many of the community activities centered at the school, therefore we made new friends and experienced enjoyable times as we joined together for PTA Christmas parties, Founder’s Day dinners that we shared with all the Board of Education members and innovative speakers who spoke at regular meetings.

The youth enjoyed playing basketball on the old wood floors of the auditorium even though splinters were hazardous. We worked together to raise funds for school expenditures such as the electric and telephone bills, playground equipment and school supplies.

Even though the enrollment in Baldwin County Schools then was not what it is today the Board of Education did not have much money to operate on. That is why it is so important for us to vote to support our schools.

If there is someone out there who would like to see about moving the little 103-year-old school after the school gets ready to build (it is presently serving as a classroom) they may contact the Board of Education.

It would make a nice museum if we had the funds to move it and a place to set it up as a school museum in our community, but since we do not we must soon bid Elsanor School’s historical landmark farewell.

I would especially like to thank Tony Myrick, our Baldwin County Board representative, for supporting the effort to try to find a way to save the building. He went above and beyond the call of duty. Also, some members of Baldwin County Historical Society members, Joe and Helen Baronco, tried to think of a way and place to move it.

Elsanor Community Center would have been an ideal place but there is not enough land there and parking is sometimes crowded. We just did not have the money and neither does the school board so we might as well cherish our fond memories and say farewell to a grand little building with many purposes.

I know it made a difference in my life when it sheltered me from the rain and cold by giving me a small place to restore school records and start a new beginning while the new school was being constructed.

I will always remember the times when the school sponsored Heritage Day and Angie Speakman asked me to tell the history of Elsanor School in the teacherage.