yesterday's tennessee

Pleasant Grove School

"Lancaster School House"

from the photograph collection of Mary Lynn Montgomery Butler

click on people in the picture for a larger view.

This picture of the Pleasant Grove School was probably made shortly before it burned in 1911.  The inscription on the back of the picture reads "Pleasant Grove School, built by David L. Lancaster some time after 1840, all his children went to school there, this school burned about 1911."  If anyone can date this picture, provide more information on this school or identify anyone in the picture, please contact me.  To identify people in the picture, click on the links above to enlarge portions of the picture.   You can also click on people in the picture to enlarge that part of the picture.

Beatrice Tucker Taylor mentions David L. Lancaster as living near Dunbar and also makes this reference to the location of the replacement Pleasant Grove school building.

Old Pleasant Grove School house burned in 1911. In 1912 Turman's Creek Church was built and was Pleasant Grove School too. It is still Turman's Creek Primitive Baptist Church.

Beatrice also mentions that the Pleasant Grove School was commonly known as the Lancaster School House. This should not be confused with the Lancaster School at the Three Way intersection.

Click here to download a high resolution version of the picture above that is suitable for printing.  This image is 1.3 MB and will take a while to download on a dial up Internet connection.

History of Pleasant Grove School

Tales of Old Days are Recalled in Colorful History Of Dunbar, by Mrs. A. H. Taylor [excerpt]

August 1, 1958 Lexington Progress

[Colonel David Lancaster] considered his greatest service to the neighborhood was giving a piece of ground for a schoolhouse. He also gave part of the lumber and helped to build it. He believed that more education would bring about better citizenship. He named the school Pleasant Grove, but it was known as well as Lancaster Schoolhouse. Here was were the writer, her brothers and sisters attended school with its split log benches later replaced by benches with backs. Our father, R. H. Tucker, was a director for the school for a number of years.

Our Family, by Beatrice Tucker Taylor [excerpt]

Grandfather [Lancaster] believed education makes better citizens. He gave a piece of ground for a school house. He gave part of the lumber and helped build the house which he named Pleasant Grove. Later it was better known as Lancaster School. Here our older brothers and sisters went to school and sat on benches most of which didn't have backs. When we went to school there the benches had backs. There was a table where the older pupils sat to write. This building burned in 1911.

Related pages

Tales of Old Days are Recalled in Colorful History Of Dunbar

History of the Lancasters

Our Family

Jonothan Duck Family

Dunbar Community History