Holtville community has more than 200 years of education

Holtville High School will celebrate 100 years of graduates this year. Its familiar Spanish revival building is not quite as old as the first one. But its roots as a school run a century older and include more western Elmore County communities than Holtville.

Cains Chapel, Lightwood, Pine Flat, Deatsville, Cold Springs, Robinson Springs and Riverside were all churches or one- and two-room schools.

“There were lots of little schools because people lived far apart and they didn’t have a bus system,” Holtville historian Jackie Earnest said. 

The Holtville School all started with the Cain family in 1820. They built a home then a chapel that housed a small school.

“The family gave the property for the school in 1885,” Earnest said. “There has been a school on that site since.”

Most of the schools sent their students to a centralized building in the early 1920s.

“Hence the name Holtville Consolidated School, it’s on the building” Earnest said. “A lot of people associate the 100 years with the building itself. It became accredited in 1925.”

It was the first high school in western Elmore County to be accredited.

Prior to 1925, students could not graduate from Holtville.

“They could go through the 11th grade,” Earnest said. “They would have to go to Wetumpka or the Millbrook students would go to Montgomery. Some went off to boarding school.” 

Every student who received a Holtville High School diploma is documented in a handwritten record. The first graduate in 1925 of Holtville was Susie Nell Yarbrough. She is the first name in the book of graduates and one of five in the Class of 1925. The graduation happened at Cains Chapel.

When the Class of 2025 graduates and every student is recorded, it will be 100 years full.

“The book will be out of space,” Holtville Class of 2001 graduate and current principal Sean Kreauter said. “We have a new book to start the next 100 years.”

For a brief period of time, it was believed the Class of 1925 would not be housed in the current building. Five years before the class walked the halls, a tornado wrecked the building of the original school building. 

The Wetumpka Herald reported school couldn’t continue.

“There was no available house to continue and the teacher had gone home,” the article stated.

The community built another school in 1924, which housed grades one through 11.

After a fire in 1926, the school board wanted to transport the students to Wetumpka but that did not happen.

“The people in the community wanted their own school,” Earnest said. “They raised $4,000 to build it.”

Eclectic native James Chrietzberg came to the school in 1928 to be principal. It was the only school on the west side of the Coosa River in Elmore County at the time.

The current historic school building was finished in 1929. 

Before the current building was constructed, then state superintendent Dr. A.F. Harmon had just returned from California and took a liking to the Spanish Colonial Revival building.

“He sketched it out in the sand with a walking cane,” Earnest said.

The historic building still contains the old hardwood floors, some of the old curved windows, some columns and brass thresholds.

“Even some of the tiles on the front are original,” Earnest said.

Chrietzberg helped change agriculture in the area. He helped develop a program using the students at the school. It allowed parents to learn about fertilizer and more current farming methods. 

Chrietzberg introduced the school colors based on the nearby green fields of corn and white cotton. He decided on a Bulldog for the mascot because of its tenacity. Football was eventually introduced to the school.

“They had no jerseys, no pads, no helmets, nothing and they played football in a cornfield across the road from where the school is today,” Earnest said. “It evolved in the 1940s to the Turkey Day Classic. It was a huge game between Wetumpka and Holtville. You didn’t have Thanksgiving dinner until after the Classic.”

In addition to football, the auditorium hosted game nights Wednesdays and movies on Saturdays. There was even a bowling alley.

The school had a cannery where garden vegetables could be preserved. The quick freeze at the school taught students how to butcher animals and served as a way to store meat for months for families.

“It has always been the hub of the community,” Earnest said. 

Classes at the time were taught in three two-hour blocks per day on a rotating schedule. Every student had math, science and English. They also had options in bookkeeping, soil conservation, debate, journalism, mechanics, photography, woodworking and health.

“The school was recognized for having the lowest percentage of freshman failures in the United States,” Earnest said. “It was determined by all the state superintendents.”

In 1938 Holtville was selected as a Southern Association Study School. 

“It was a five-year program to help develop a school that helps the community,” Earnest said. 

It led to the Holtville movie being created by the association to showcase the school and its success to the world. It was shown in every state and translated into 22 languages.

The history of the school goes beyond the building, though. There are two families with five generations who have attended Holtville schools

Many Holtville graduates have gone on to be state legislators, lawyers and teachers.

While it’s not a guarantee the building will always remain a high school due to growth in the area, the future of the school is protected.

“When you look and see how many people are moving in, the potential is huge,” Earnest said. “They are putting in numerous homes. It will change the community. How remains to be seen.”

Kreauter said the 100 years will be celebrated from Sept. 23-27. 

On Thursday following a homecoming parade, the lawn in front of the school will be converted to a school centennial celebration. An alumni tea will be held before the homecoming game on Friday. 

“I’m trying to use as many alumni as possible,” Kreauter said. “We are going to open up the library with artifacts and the book of graduates.”