HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN PASCO COUNTYRichland SchoolA post office was established at Tuckertown on Oct. 5, 1876. It was renamed Richland on July 17, 1886. An article in the 1954 Richland School yearbook has: “Of course there was a need for education for these pioneer families. The parents taught the children what little they knew, until one of the settlers, a Mr. Tucker, built a little Log Cabin school room for the community children. Mr. Tucker hired a teacher whom he boarded at his home, and he used a horse and wagon to gather up all the children, and he and the teacher would transport them to and from school each morning and night. Later on a larger school was built, near a large Oak tree, which was west of the Richland Baptist Church, the old church which was built in 1855. We have a new one at this writing, same lot.” An 1885-86 list of Hernando County schools shows a Tuckertown School. A deed dated Aug. 8, 1887, shows property in S30, T25, R22 in the town of Richland transferred from Thomas H. Evans of Pasco County and Albert T. Evans of Richland Parish, Louisiana, to the school board. The property was all of block no. 1, bounded on the north by Pine Ave., on the east by Street No. 6, on the south by Laurel Ave., and on the west by Street No. 7. School board minutes of Sept. 5, 1887, show Richland School, no. 29, with trustees J. H. Pedrick, W. R. Lilburn, and S. Y. Stafford. The Pasco County Democrat of Jan. 9, 1890, has: “A handsome academy adorns the Village. In this building an excellent school is being taught under the charge of Mr. J. H. Gilpin a young man of good attainments who gives promise of much usefulness in his chosen profession.” On July 6, 1903, Miss Mae ______ was appointed the teacher at Riverland School, no. 4. In 1915 a still larger and better school of brick was built and there are two teachers for several years, according to the article in the 1954 yearbook. At the school board meeting of July 3-5, 1916, H. A. Hammer was appointed Principal of the Richland school, and Miss Mary Shearer was appointed assistant. McCormick has: “Richland began July 23, 1923 under Warren Haynes Jr.” On July 11, 1924, a newspaper reported that Prof. Higgs was appointed a teacher at Richland. According to McCormick, in Feb. 1933, Richland School was to close at end of month because of insufficient funds. On Sept. 4, 1936, the Dade City Banner reported that Miss Ruth Giddens was appointed to teach at the Richland School. A new Richland school building built by the WPA was dedicated on May 12, 1939. The 1954 yearbook article has: “Then still later, as the community kept growing, the school building needed repairing so during the W. P. A. times the building was wrecked and the nice two teacher schoolhouse which we now have was built. It has a large auditorium, a library, also a nice lunch room, which the women of the entire Community who were members of the clubs, came forward and furnished inside. ” On Oct. 21, 1952, the Board voted to continue Richland one more year. On April 14, 1953, the Board voted to close Richland, as only five students registered for the next year. The 1954 yearbook of the Richland School has pictures of 22 students in grades 1 to 6. In August 1967 the school board agreed to rent a classroom in the vacant Richland School to the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Zephyrhills. The building was vacant until Headstart began and was used while that program was in existence. In 1997 Clark Roman purchased the school building from the school board for use as a residence. A picture of the home is here.
|
