Jubilee School, Ohio County, was a small "One Room Type" School that was located in an area that Peabody Coal Company stripped some fifty years ago. This small school served the people in the area from the early years of the twentieth century until probably the early forties. Jubilee School was shut down several years before Peabody Coal Company moved into the Ken Mine and Homestead Mine areas. One would be hard pressed now, to pinpoint an exact location where this school was built. The general area was between Pond Run Baptist Church and Hopewell Church. During the mining era of Ken Mine, the county road between these two churches, crossed the Ken Mine Haul Road and a mile or so past that point the gravel road forked. The left fork would have been toward Chiggerville while the right fork would have been toward Hopewell Church. I don't ever remember seeing the old school building, but have been told that it was located in the area where Ken Mine Haul Road crossed the Pond Run Baptist Church to Hopewell Church Road. The school building and the Hopewell Church are long gone. May Pond Run Baptist Church continue as a reminder of the past for that area.

In the first part of the twentieth century, families tend to settle in a certain area and especially the farmers. A generation of families would tend to raise a second generation that would try to stay close to the old home place. Where Number #19 and Pink Hall Schools had their share of the same families, Jubilee School was no exception. In this area, the Williams, Browns, Russells, Shulls and Cummins tended to be prevalent. Of course, other families existed, and help populate the area.

Although I never saw the Jubilee School Building, I can imagine what it looked like. It probably consisted of a one room building with large windows, a high ceiling and a door on each end. The floor joist were probably cut, "on site" and rested on large rocks and the siding was of clapboard construction. A outside, coat of paint, made the building look bright and clean and I am sure the local citizens were proud of their school.

Like so many schools in that time frame, it was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Heat was probably provided by one or more "Pot Bellied" stoves using coal as a heat source. Air conditioning was provided by opening windows and if more air conditioning was needed, another window was opened and at last resort, doors were opened. In the best case, an outdoor toilet was provided and to have a "His" and a "Hers" toilet would have been a luxury. The only water available would have been in a bucket or barrel. This provision was for drinking water and forget about using individual paper cups. If you wanted a drink, you removed the common dipper from a nail and placed the dipper in the barrel, dipped out some water and drank. The dipper was placed back on the nail for the next person or maybe just handed to the person behind the drinker. I doubt if very many students had any lasting ill effects from drinking after another student.

Memories still exist from those that once attended this school. I am sure that each and every person that attended Jubilee School will tell you; "Those were the good old days". And they were. At the time of the school's existence, no one knew this and never realized it until later years in life. May the memory of Jubilee School never be forgotten.

See you........
jrd