Hancock School
(AKA - The Little Red Schoolhouse)
5924 Hancock
Berkeley, MO
Hancock School (which we now call the Little Red Schoolhouse) served many purposes in the early years. In 1935, it housed both the elementary and high school with a total of nearly 300+ students.
At the 1902 annual spring meeting of the Ferguson School District, the white residents of the Kinloch area voted to split from the District and establish their own District. Because of the inconclusiveness of the vote, a Board of Arbitration was appointed by the County Superintendent of Schools. The Board ruled as follows: "The formation of said new district to be known as Kinloch School District No. 5, Township 46, Range 6 East is hereafter described as a necessity".
In August 1902 the directors of the new District laid a cornerstone for Kinloch School which would house it's white students. When the building was completed the following year, white students moved from the Scudder Avenue School to the new facility.
Originally built for children of wealthy whites, Scudder Avenue School was designated for blacks and becoming the property of the new Kinloch District. The structure contained two rooms, one 12' X 20' and the other 14' X 20'. Eight grades were housed under the direction of Mamie Lightfoot and Viola Williams. The enrollment seldom exceeded 30 pupils.
(History of Hancock School, is based on an article written by: John A. Wright, Sr.)
This is what our Red School House looked like when it was built in 1902...
Future additions added more schoolrooms to accommodate all eight elementary grades. The ruggedness of this building endures throughout
the many years including a Tornado in 2011.
A side view of our beloved Red School House
This Cornerstone was located on the other side of the front porch
(Thanks to Art McClusky for submitting this cornerstone picture)
If only our dearly beloved Red School House could talk.....
It would be great to know how many students attended this school. My Mother did and I've known many of her vintage who also attended here. Miss Barker told me that she had thousands pass through her first grade. There was also a great teacher known as Miss Florence Spitznagel. She was Miss Barkers predecessor. Her grandson, Francis Spitznagel and I started in the first grade together. He became a lawyer here in the St. Louis area. I will never forget a strange happenstance that took place in their backyard.
Alligators in Berkeley? "Ya gotta be kidding!"
One evening, when my father was Berkeley's Chief of Police, he got a phone call from the Spitznagel's for help as they had an alligator in their backyard. My father rounded up a few braves souls, hunted up some rope and off we went. This alligator had escaped from the Country Day School which was located just behind the Spitznagel home. It was a sight I will never forget as it isn't often you will find an alligator in Berkeley anymore! My father was a real Texas cowboy and was able to throw a rope around it's mouth and a few brave hearts straddled the critter and managed to subdue it. Needless to say ... I was scared to death my father would be eaten alive. It was then returned to the school with orders to keep the alligator at home. There was never a dull moment in those days!
