HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN PASCO COUNTY

Greer School

According to information provided to this website by a local researcher, the Greer School was located approximately 5½ miles south of Dade City, on the east side of US 301, near the bottom of the south side of Greer Hill.

The History of Zephyrhills 1821-1921 by Rosemary W. Trottman has:

The Greer School was established at the beginning and some of the county’s best teachers taught there. One of the most loved was Miss Fannie Mobley, whose sister Miss Mattie Mobley was tax collector for many years. Later Miss Fannie taught in Dade City grammar school until her retirement. Miss Althea Collins was a favorite of the Greer family. Another was Olive Tucker, sister of Linton Tucker, well known in Zephyrhills. She taught in Greer some years after the smallpox outbreak in which Mattie Bedgood Greer died. She became the second Mrs. J. L. Greer.

On Aug. 6, 1903, Willie Lee was appointed to teach at the Greer school, no. 39.

On July 3, 1905, the Greer school was discontinued.

On Aug. 7, 1905, the board rescinded the act of July 3 discontinuing Lake Buddy and asked that Greer combine with Lake Buddy.

On Oct. 2, 1905, a special school was established at Greer for the term, as the Lake Buddy school was not large enough.

On July 5, 1909, Fannie Mobley was appointed the teacher.

On July 7-8, 1913, Miss Agnes White was appointed the teacher.

On Feb. 1-2, 1915, Clarence H. Martin was assigned to finish the term at Greer for $75 per month.

The following is excerpted from It Took A Lot of Living to Fill Those 90 Years, ©1996 by David I. Cripe:

It was in 1914 that the Cripe children attended the institute of learning known as the Greer School. A Mr. Martin was the Headmaster that year, and his daughter Vera Martin taught the primary grades in the smaller room which was attached to the main structure. Mr. Martin also had a son Laury who attended the school, and the three of them travelled daily from their home in the northern part of Dade City, in a top-buggy propelled by a black horse. During the day, the horse was tied to a tree with a box nailed to it. In the box was some grain to charge up the horse for the trip home in the evening. Really he parked the horse behind the building but if I placed him there in the picture, you would not be able to see him. Mr. Martin wrote with a flourish of beautiful letters and although I tried hard, I could never nearly match it. He was also the first person I had seen with an artificial (or glass) eye as we called it in those days.

The road running by the school was a sandy dirt road which wove its way south-westerly through the woods, over the hill, and around a small lake to the small metropolis of Phelps Station. The settlement included the Herndon Post Office and a turpentine still operated by the Powell brothers, also about a dozen houses for employees.

On Aug. 2, 1915, Clarence H. Martin and Vera Martin were appointed to teach at Greer.

A 1915-16 list of schools shows the Greer school, served by the Dade City post office, with 61 students. The teachers were Clarence H. Martin and Miss Vera Martin. (According to McCormick, Mr. Martin taught grades 4-6 and his daughter Vera taught grades 1-3.)

The minutes of the school board meeting on Sept. 4-5, 1916, have: “Upon motion of Mr. Roberts seconded by Mr. McKendree, board voted to appoint Miss Miriam Ross as teacher for the Greer school, provided Miss Ruth Davis refuses to accept. Said appointment being made, recognizing the authority of Trustees to nominate elapsed with the appointment of Miss Ruth Davis.”

In an article in East Pasco’s Heritage, Alice Daniel wrote, “For one term our school district was in dispute, and we had to attend school in Greer. We walked a sand road a mile to this two-teacher school. The next year they allowed us to walk the three miles to the Zephyrhills school.”

On Sept. 7, 1919, the Tampa Morning Tribune reported, “The Greer school children are transported to Zephyrhills by Paul Overstreet, he having purchased a car about two weeks ago.”

On July 5-6, 1920, the board voted to transport students living in Greer to Zephyrhills.

On July 5, 1921, the board approved a petition from the residents of Greer that they be allowed to unite with Sand Pond.