MCHS  Memorial
McCreary County High School  - Indians

Other School Links

Greenwood Elementary

Today's Smile:

 

Welcome to the
McCreary County High School Memorial (MCHS Memorial)
Website.  

For forty-two years (1936-1978), McCreary County High School served as a cradle of dreams for hundreds of young men and women from McCreary County.  Within the shelter of its red-brick walls, the children of coal miners and loggers, farmers and merchants learned about a world that lay beyond the Cumberland River and prepared themselves to meet the demands of the twentieth century. They were aided in this endeavor by a cadre of teachers whose professionalism was the equal of any high school faculty in the nation.

Now McCreary County High School is no more.  In 1978, its student body was moved to the new, modern McCreary Central High School, a fine center of learning that serves all of the county’s young people. The old school was abandoned. Now, it, too, is gone.  Many years of demolition by neglect and a series of destructive fires have turned the old school building into a ghost structure, populated only by rodents and vermin.  Its brick walls teeter on the verge of collapse, a threat to anyone foolish enough to venture under them.

But the old McCreary County High School remains alive in the collective memory of the men and women who discovered their purpose in life there. From the faded images on the pages of worn and fragile yearbooks, the old building acquires new life in the recalled adventures and escapades of the students who trod her plastered halls in days gone by. To many of them, the old school is as real as it was in 1942, when many of them put aside their studies and walked away to serve their country in a time of need.  To others their school experience was their last big event before shipping out to Korea or Vietnam.  For others, it provided the strength needed to say goodbye to loved ones before emigrating to the land of economic opportunity north of the Ohio River.  The memories of McCreary County High School are abundant and varied, but seldom are they anything but good.

In October 2007, after much emotional consideration, the Class of 1957 embarked upon a project designed to preserve the memory of McCreary County High School.  A committee of concerned former students was organized and meetings to determine a course of action were held.  Now, after a great deal of discussion, a plan has been formulated.

The current owners of the old school property, Braxton and Monica King, have agreed to participate in erecting a memorial to McCreary County High School.  Because of the generosity of these two individuals, both the materials and the site for a memorial have become a reality.  The materials for construction of the memorial will consist of reclaimed brick from the original building and the site will be within only a few feet of the building itself.  Plans regarding the physical nature of the memorial have yet to be developed, but with the participation of the King family, the Memorial Committee believes the project can move forward rapidly.

As a former student at McCreary County High School, the Committee urges you to support the construction of a memorial.  Your level of support is dependent, entirely, upon your own ability and desire.  Monetary donations are needed, of course, but, at this time, your verbal support is needed more.

McCreary County High School was born during the Great Depression.  It breathed its last in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.  For almost half a century, through good times and bad, it was a pseudo-parent for many of us.  It is to honor the sacrifices of our teachers, who could have reaped greater financial rewards elsewhere, and to preserve the memories of both them and our fellow students that the Memorial Committee was organized.  Please join us and assist us in this noble effort.

Copyright 2008 McCreary County High School Memorial Committee - All rights reserved.