CCHS 100th anniversary marked at fundraiser
Published 6:43 pm Friday, April 22, 2016
Marking the occasion: About 240 tickets were sold to a banquet in honor of the 100th anniversary of Chilton County High School. (Photos by Brandon Sumrall)
A banquet in honor of the 100th anniversary of Chilton County High School was held April 7 at the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center.
The event was a fundraiser for the school’s “Save-a-Seat” campaign to replace the seats in the school auditorium at a cost of about $155,000.
About 240 tickets were sold at $30 for the banquet, and after an auction at the banquet, $132,417.50 has been raised.
Raising funds: Superintendent of Education Tommy Glasscock (left) was auctioneer for an auction that raised money for the school’s “Save-a-Seat” campaign. Glasscock is pictured with CCHS Principal Cynthia Stewart.
Below is a history of the school compiled by student Abbey Thornton:
Chilton County High School was first constructed in its original location in 1914. Twenty acres of land was donated to the construction project by doctors J.E. and A.M. Gowan.
The building was constructed by contractors J.H. Roberts and Sons. The original project cost $18,000, equivalent to $426,630.60 in modern money.
CCHS began its first session of classes in January 1915 with Professor C.C. Slaton as principal.
On Tuesday, Nov. 29, 1938, the school building and equipment valued at $50,000 caught fire and burned down, leaving only the agricultural building unharmed.
Classes resumed the next morning in the agricultural building and in the Sunday School classrooms at Clanton Baptist Church.
This arrangement stood for the remainder of the 1938-1939 term, as well as for the entire 1939-1940 school year.
The school was rebuilt in its original location in 1940 and opened for classes in September of that year. The new structure cost $89,000 and had 15 classrooms, a gymnasium, two offices, a library and many other things that the original building lacked.
On Dec. 19, 1947, however, a second fire destroyed the gymnasium and most of the classrooms in the school’s south wing.
The second fire caused $65,000 worth of damage, and repairs to the building did not begin until September 1948.
Classes were still conducted in the building in spite of the damage.
CCHS stayed in its original location until the construction of its current campus was completed in 1962.
The new campus housed a beautiful 1,044-seat auditorium, which became home to school assemblies, pageants, graduations, ceremonies and performances.
Tiger Stadium was opened in 1965, making the 1965-66 team the first to play in the permanent home of the Tigers.
2016 marks 100 years of CCHS graduates and Tigers football.
In 1916, nine seniors became the first graduating class to receive their diplomas from Chilton County High School. Since then, CCHS has gone from being a small, rural community school to being the biggest school in Chilton County.
On May 26, 2016, 189 senior students will graduate, joining the ranks of an entire century of CCHS alumni.
This year also marks 100 years of Tiger football. The football team was started by Coach Lex S. Owens in 1916.
Orange and blue were selected as the team’s colors, and “Tigers” was chosen as the name.
The first game was set for Nov. 18, 1916, against Chilton County’s then rival, Shelby County High School.
The first team was inexperienced, with only four players having ever played a game of football. The Tigers lost their first game by a score of 6-7.
The team won only one game during their its season, but football instantly became a CCHS tradition.
