Pisgah School Comes to Life - Again
By Kelly S. Whitaker

No need to travel far to take a trip into the past, merely take a short drive along Old Pisgah Church Road just off South Highway 27 near the Somerset Mall in Somerset, Kentucky. Just a hop, skip and a jump from speeding motorists and crowded stores stands an intricate piece of Pulaski County's historical puzzle, the Old Pisgah Schoolhouse. The two room schoolhouse, built in 1923, has recently been restored, one of the rooms has been restored to actually resemble one of the original classrooms.

The schoolhouse stood alone for years, striving to withstand Mother Nature's wrath. Today, as one walks between the towering tulip poplar trees on each of the winding pathway amidst the neatly manicured schoolyard, it is hard to imagine that at one time this historical landmark housed hay, tobacco and farm equipment, while corn grew tall in the front of the schoolhouse and pigs ran amuck through the basement.

In the far right corner of the stage, next to the scribbling on the chalkboard, rests the Old Pisgah School Bell. After the closing of the school, the broken bell was rescued from the schoolyard and pieced back together by Doug Burton and his family. Once the Burton's learned of the restoration of the school, they gladly placed the bell back into its home. The wooden desks with flip up seats are lined up as orderly as soldiers across the room. In the back right corner of the classroom next to the cloakroom sits an old-fashioned pot-bellied stove.

Calvin Buchanan became a student at Pisgah School in 1941 when he entered first grade and he remained at Pisgah through part of his sixth year. Buchanan has many fond memories of his schooldays at Pisgah. However, a not so fond memory that Buchanan recalls is when his streak of straight A's was interrupted by a brawny B-, which he received for talking too much."

It is believed that the Pisgah Schoolhouse was the fIrst school in rural Kentucky to have a cafeteria. The cafeteria, located in the basement of the schoolhouse, is occupied by original wooden tables and benches. Nora Hardgrove Jasper, a former student who attended Pisgah School until she got married in 1938, recalls the days before the cafeteria was built when she and her two older sisters walked three miles to and from school. Jasper's mother found it easier to fIx one bag lunch for her daughters instead of three small lunches. Consequently, Jasper and her sisters had to carry their lunch to school in a lard bucket, an eight pound lard bucket to be exact. Jasper stated that her two sisters would carry the bucket to the front of the schoolyard and then they would make her carry it from the schoolyard into the schoolhouse. "I wasn't ashamed. I didn't care," said Jasper. "I'd come wagging in that big bucket. No one laughed at me. They probably thought I ate a lot, but no one laughed at me," joked Jasper.

Pete Stigall recalls how he and his fellow students like to be mischievous during the schooldays at Pisgah. During the seventh grade, Stigall recalls feeling particularly ornery one day and chose to pull a prank on the girl sitting in front of him in class. Stigall noticed that the girl was wearing a wrap-around dress held together by a sash. Stigall decided to untie the sash right before the students went out at recess. As the girl stood up, her dress "just sort of unfolded," chuckled Stigall. Stigall's prank didn't go without punishment. The teacher "cut eleven stripes on my back with a switch," said Stigall.

Despite the mischievousness, the students at Pisgah School were "like family," recalls Irene Broyles who taught at the school from 1945 to 1946. The students "learned to live together and learned to accept each other," said Broyles.

Generations to come will be able to set foot inside the Old Pisgah Schoolhouse to remember the days of the past thanks to the generous folks at the Pisgah Presbyterian Church, located next door to the schoolhouse. The Pisgah Presbyterian Church purchased the schoolhouse in the Fall of2001. Several of the church members shared the vision to restore the schoolhouse and turn it into a museum. Subsequently, a restoration committee was formed and the grueling work began in the Spring of2002.

Holland Hall, the Pisgah Restoration Committee chairman, along with Carl Skaggs, co-chairman, and Skaggs' wife, Carol were instrumental in converting the vision into a reality in the Fall of2002. "The entire Somerset Community jumped on the bandwagon to restore the school," said Carol Skaggs. "Every time we thought we were in trouble with money and might have to slow down on the work, a contribution would come from somewhere." The Pisgah Presbyterian Church members stand in awe of the community who so willingly donated their time, money and effort for the overwhelming restoration project.

Today, the Old Pisgah School welcomes visitors from near and far to step inside its doors for an unforgettable history lesson, to become like a child propped on a grandparent's knee waiting anxiously to hear tales of days gone by.