History of the Pearisburg High School

Now the Pearisburg Community Center

The Pearisburg High School building was constructed on the 6 acres where the Giles County Fairs were held each fall from 1916-1937.  It was the  scene of a typical rural fairground with shows, entertainment, animal judging, awards for the best jelly, hand-made quilts, etc.  Ice cream cups with little wooden spoons were a special treat at the fair. 

The first of the four days of the Fair was designated “School Day”.  On this day, all the schools in the county were dismissed and given free gate entrance.

A WPA Grant of approximately $100,00.00 was secured from the Federal Government for the construction of the school building.  It is told that the grant had a deadline for beginning the construction; the deadline was approaching but the contract had not been let.  Superintendent of Schools, Mr. King Johnston, hired a bulldozer and had some grading done on the site.  By doing this he was able to keep the grant.

Until the building could be completed, the school was housed in two two-story brick buildings just off of Rt. 100 at the end of Tazewell St. were the Pearisburg Baptist Church is now.  The older building contained eight classrooms.  The auditorium was in the second floor of the newer building.  Students either took their lunches or walked home for lunch until a small soup kitchen was set up outside of the buildings.  Here at lunchtime each student lined up outside the door of the kitchen and was given a bowl of vegetable soup-always vegetable soup with crackers.  Eventually a cafeteria was built behind the school and the students hand stenciled curtains for the windows.  Most of these students remember Mrs. John St.Clair who taught first grade and all remember Mrs. Macy McClaugherty, who was both the principal and seventh grade teacher.

The Pearisburg High School building was opened in the fall of 1939 making the first class to graduate from there the Class of 1940.  This new building offered a fine auditorium, a lab, a cafeteria complete with a jukebox, a study hall, lockers in the halls, a gym for basketball, and nice big classrooms.  A portion of the old fairgrounds became the baseball field and the football field.  This building served as a high school until 1961 when it became King Johnston School, housing the sixth and seventh grades while the higher grades moved into the new Giles High School building.  In 1991 the building ceased to serve as a school.  At that time, it had the distinction of being the oldest school building in the central district of Giles County.  Desiring to preserve this historic landmark, the Pearisburg Town  Council purchased the building from the county in 1992.

With the help of interested citizens and civic groups, renovations have continued throughout the  1990’s and into 2000.  Civic clubs hold meetings, adult education classes, art classes, little league and church league games are held in the Community Center now.  This is now the location of the After Prom Parties.  There are other events such as the annual Festival Around Town and Relay For Life events that are held on the front lawn each year.

The Pearisburg Reunion Committee has the entire building reserved for the BIG REUNION held in the fall of each year for two days.  This reunion is for all the graduating classes of 1940-1961, for those who graduated here and for those who studied here but graduated elsewhere. 

The Giles County Band

The Giles County Band was organized in 1941 under the leadership of Mr. Lyle Smith.  The Lion's Club was the sponsoring club, and they not only bought many instruments but also paid the director's salary with some assistance from the Narrows Kiawanis Club.  Uniforms were also bought by the Lion's Club. (The first uniforms were composed of white duck slacks, a white dress shirt, a black tie, and black shoes.)

Mr. Smith was in the armed services for a short time, but returned to direct the Band until 1950.

Mr. Clark S. Walker, of Grundy, became the band director for the next year.  He was succeeded y Mr. Kenneth Large, who directed the band activities for two years, leaving in 1953.  Mr. Richard Beasley then very capably carried on the organization.

Many awards were won by the Giles County Band, however there is no record of how many.  Two of the most prized were the winning of First Place at the Apple Blossom Festival in 1953 and the winning of 7th Place among bands in the United States at the Lion's International Convention in Chicago that same year.  They also won awards at Fireman's Parades, the Dogwood Festival and were consistently selected for All-State Band.

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