In the late 1800's the railroad pushed further west into Gadsden County. In 1897, the Humphrey Company established a settlement. The company, owned by W.P. Humphrey, dealt in land, timber, and general merchant services of the time. When Gretna was platted as a town in 1905 there was a desire to have a school in the town limits. In 1908, Mr. Humphrey along with his wife Sarah M. Humphrey and J.W. Mahaffey and his wife Addie Mahaffey, deeded the land for the school to the Board of Public Instruction for $100. R.A. Gray, who later became Florida's longest serving Secretary of State, was a principal here from 1910-1911. The building served as a school until 1935 and stands today with only minor changes from its original design. It consists three rooms on the first floor and one great room upstairs with a stage on the south side. The school has since been used as a health clinic, town hall, community center, and for church-related activities. Many lives have been touched by this building and we the trustees of the W.P. Humphrey Club, A. Walter Watson, Jr., W.A. Johnson, and Sterling L. Watson are honored to preserve for future generations this monument of our past.
A Florida Heritage Site
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