Community says farewell to Garfield Elementary

GARFIELD, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The community said goodbye to Garfield Elementary with a reunion celebration on Saturday.

Former Principal Stephen Bowman said in 1888, a wood schoolhouse was built on the grounds, and they have been educating kids there ever since.

The current building was built in 1937 and the school moved into it in 1942, according to Bowman.

“I kind of just dove into the history of the building and all the locals that were coming up and meeting me and just fell in love with the history,” Bowman said.

Bowman said he has been collecting artifacts from those who went to the school including a basketball jersey from 1949 he found in the back of the building.

The bell tower is only 11 years old, however, the bell inside was from the original school. Bowman said it was delivered to the school by horse and wagon in 1888.

“So, what we did is we started ringing it when the school day started and then ringing it at the end of the day just like they did back in the old time,” Bowman said.

Garfield Mayor Gary Blackburn said many historical items in the building will be going to the Glade Community Historical Museum, which was consolidated into Garfield years ago.

“There’s a group that has established a museum in Glade, and they have a school building and a museum. So some of the artifacts will be going from Garfield back to Glade, and we think that’s pretty appropriate,” Blackburn said.

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