Gretna in Gadsden County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Old Gretna School House

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2014

1. Old Gretna School House Marker

Inscription. In the late 1800’s the railroad pushed further west into Gadsden County. In 1897, the Humphrey Company established a settlement. The company, owned by W.P. Humphrey, dealt in land, timber, and general merchant services of the time. When Gretna was platted as a town in 1905 there was a desire to have a school in the town limits. In 1908, Mr. Humphrey along with his wife Sarah M. Humphrey and J.W. Mahaffey and his wife Addie Mahaffey, deeded the land for the school to the Board of Public Instruction for $100. R.A. Gray, who later became Florida’s longest serving Secretary of State, was a principal here from 1910-1911. The building served as a school until 1935 and stands today with only minor changes from its original design. It consists of three rooms on the first floor and one great room upstairs with a stage on the south side. The school has since been used as a health clinic, town hall, community center, and for church-related activities. Many lives have been touched by this building and we the trustees of the W.P. Humphrey Club, A. Walter Watson, Jr., W.A. Johnson, and Sterling L. Watson are honored to preserve for future

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generations this monument of our past.
A Florida Heritage Site

Erected 2008 by the W.P. Humphrey Club and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-634.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1897.

Location. 30° 37.006′ N, 84° 39.486′ W. Marker is in Gretna, Florida, in Gadsden County. It is at the intersection of Church Street (County Road 268) and 3rd Street, on the right when traveling north on Church Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 722 Church Street, Gretna FL 32332, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Tallahassee

and on the Florida Panhandle.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the

Old Gretna School House image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2014

2. Old Gretna School House

Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Site of the First Gadsden County Courthouse (approx. 4.2 miles away); Old Washington Lodge No. 2 ~ Quincy Woman's Club (approx. 4.9 miles away); St. Paul's Episcopal Church (approx. 5.1 miles away); The Quincy Academy (approx. 5.2 miles away); The White House / Pleasants Woodson White (approx. 5.2 miles away); Old Philadelphia Presbyterian Church (approx. 5.2 miles away); The Quincy State Bank (approx. 5.2 miles away); Centenary Methodist Church Bell (approx. 5.2 miles away).

Looking south from Old Gretna School House image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2014

3. Looking south from Old Gretna School House

Credits. This page was last revised on August 3, 2017. It was originally submitted on December 8, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 843 times since then and 57 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 8, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.