Before Bon Jellico was established, there was a one-room school called Briar Creek on the place where a Mr. Wilder had a house near the entrance to Bon Hollow Park (circa 1985). The teacher in 1911 was Miss Flora Whitehead. In 1912 Bon Jellico School of two rooms came alive with Mr. Joe Keehan as principal and Mrs. Maude Foley as the teacher of the first three grades.

    The new school was built up on a hill by itself with plenty of playground space. Everyone in those days raised hogs which ran free, and under the schoolhouse floor was the hogs' bed, fleas and all. In 1926 a third room was built on the Bon School, and Earl Lovitt was the first principal and teacher in the three-teachers school. The other teachers were Leonard Inman and Mary Calloway. The principal's salary with two teachers and 168 students was $85.00 per month in 1926 and $115.00 in 1927. The building was

hot in the summer and cold in the winter. A large potbelly stove was in the middle of each room. On snowy days the students would all sit around the stove and would still be cold.

    Bon Jellico School had many good things going like P.T.A., baseball, basketball, and debates.

    When the mines closed down and people began to move away, a few people were left on Briar Creek. The Bon Jellico School was open until 1960 and then it closed when many rural Kentuckky schools were consolidated.

Remembering Bon Jellico is proud to be a KYGenWeb Special Project site.
Lynn Stenglein - Project Coordinator
Sherri Bradley - Asst. Project Coordinator

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