Wanda Jett Bailey recalls one room school days (2002)
Fink School barely standing (2002)
School has now crumbled (2009)
By Bob Weaver 2002
Calhoun had at least 104 one room schools during the last century, with few of the
structures barely standing today. The Fink School on the road between Minnora and
Milo has been closed since 1950, and is still used for a barn to store hay.
One of the last students to attend the school is Wanda Jett Bailey, who said about 25
kids walked across the small bridge to to the building. "William Crawford was the last
teacher, but Opal Bailey taught there for many years," she said.
Ms. Bailey said she walked from Beech Road, and other kids came from up and down
the creek.
The school was named for Calhoun legend Mike Fink, not the Mike Fink who is often
written about in American history. Calhoun's Mike Fink and a native American Indian
allegedly killed one another on a hill between Minnora and Milo sometime before
1800. The Mike Fink tale and the Bett's Ghost are Calhoun's two biggest legends.
Ms. Bailey said some of her family and other kids not old enough to attend school
would come and sit in the back. "My sister came, and rarely spoke," she said.
"It was a much different time," she concluded.
Fireplace remains from nearby log cabin used by school
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