Varnum History

Varnum School had its beginning in three schools: Twin Oak, Liberty, and Good Hope. A brief history of the three schools follows.

Twin Oak, which was located four miles north and two miles east of Seminole, was founded by the annexation of a portion of Liberty, Good Hope, and Ferguson schools in 1912.

The first school board members, A. F. Polk, Tom Hammock, and E. F. Brown, petitioned County Superintendent Dow Dunaway for the creation of this new district. A one-room school building and furniture were constructed by the men of the district. When school opened, there were many more students than could be accommodated. Many different types of seats, chiefly wagon seats, were brought from farm homes. The first teacher, Fred Carter, lived in a tent.

Twin Oak progressed from a two-room to a three-room school. About 1924 or 1925, the first two years of high school were added. New buildings were constructed in 1928. When Varnum was created in 1928, Twin Oak High School students were transferred to Varnum. Twin Oak was known over this area as one of the outstanding country schools of the time.

In 1950, Twin Oak patrons initiated a petition, and the school was annexed to Varnum. Until 1950, the grade school had operated as a separate district. At this time, Twin Oak became a wing school of Varnum and included the first six grades, which continued until 1956, when the school closed and the students went to Good Hope. Some of the Twin Oak teachers were A.D. Reed, Lucy Hill, Virgie Limb, Bob Cannon, and later Mr. Owens, Principal

Liberty, according to county records, was founded on February 28, 1908, with the first school board members being E. A. Spoonemore, D. C. Doak, and J. L. Rhea. Since this is the same date given for the founding of Good Hope, and since both schools existed before this date, it is believed that with the coming of statehood in 1907, county records began to be kept in 1908, and that year was recorded as their beginning.

The first school building was one room before statehood. The school was financed by subscription, a set fee paid by the parents for each child. This revenue paid the teacher.

It is believed the school was founded in 1906 and was located one mile north of Varnum, across the road from the Spoonemore residence, with Pansy Hagleberg as the first teacher. After two years, the school was moved to a location six miles north of Seminole and given the name Liberty. It is believed that one of the first teachers was J. Henry Weston, who taught his first school there.

Before oil-boom times, the first one-room school became a two-room school, and teacherages were added. Liberty, a large grade school, had as its chief goal in athletics to beat Good Hope, a close neighbor and strong rival. Soon after the founding of Varnum, a new modern building was erected, and the school continued the first six grades until 1943. Liberty burned in the 1940s and was not rebuilt, and students merged with Good Hope.

Good Hope's first school board members were D. C. Barton, N. H. Moore, and A. L. Reed. It is believed the school was in operation as early as 1903 or 1904, and was located one mile north of the city of Seminole before Seminole was founded, and remained there until 1912.

The first teacher was Otis West, who was followed by Lou Grisso Thompson. This was a one-room school, the only one in the area, and it was also used as a church building.

Entertainment in the form of what was called a Literary was held once a week. It was the only public building available for whites and was used for weddings, funerals, and all manner of public assembly. The first cemetery in the area for white people was started in the school yard.

With the moving of the town of Tidmore to the present Seminole location, Good Hope School was moved to a location two miles north and one-fourth mile west of Seminole, and the name changed to New Good Hope. Old Good Hope continued as a public assembly building for several years.

By 1917, New Good Hope had increased from a one-room to a two-room school. Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Yates were the teachers. About mid-term of the 1924-25 year, the school burned. With the discovery of oil, hundreds of people came. Now there was no school. The Billington Lumber Company furnished materials to rebuild the school, and the Carter Oil Company contributed $1,000. With the insurance money added, a new three-room school was built without floating bonds. In order to make up the lost time, the school operated on Saturday.

In the fall of 1926, Fletcher H. White came to Good Hope as superintendent. In 1927, another building was added, which housed the seventh through tenth grades. The Good Hope building, as most of us know it, was constructed the same year as Varnum.

At all three schools, store-bought playground equipment was unknown. Whatever was available was used. Balls were made from raveled wool sweaters and socks. Bats were whatever board or sticks that were handy. A log rolled over weeds to flatten them was a method used to make a baseball diamond. A post with a wagon wheel set on top, from which swings were suspended, was another piece of equipment. Christmas trees were black jack oaks, gaily trimmed with all sorts of bright colored paper, cranberries, and popcorn.

With the increase in population due to the oil fields, all schools were overflowing. Beginning students often took turns sitting on the floor and sharing a desk. In 1928, Liberty and Good Hope decided to join districts and build a high school to be known as District U.G. 6, for which Mr. W. F. Varnum donated the land, and the school was given his name. Board members were L. Bowman, T. W. Spoonemore, and L. Harrison.

In the fall of 1928, grades one through six were kept at each individual school. The high school students were all sent to Good Hope. The seventh and eighth grades met in an old dance hall located where the Four Mile Tavern is now. Soon, the dance hall building housed a church group; no longer did the students have to carry their benches outside when school was dismissed. In early October, the seventh and eighth grades were moved into the partially completed Varnum High School building. There was only a thirty-minute lunch period and no recess in order to keep adventurous students from interfering with the building process. Besides, there were no buses; most students walked to school. Soon, the high school all moved to Varnum.

Varnum: The original brick building was constructed in 1927, and Varnum began school in the fall of 1928. It was designated as Independent #07 and was situated on a 10-acre tract of land, donated by Mr. Robert Varnum, Sr., a local rancher. The site was located four miles north of Strother street and highway 99 north, one mile west, thence ¼ mile south, lying on the west side of the section line.

The first graduating class of 1929 consisted of only 3 students: Leland Oniel, Wilkey White, Valedictorian, and Gladys Mills, Salutatorian. Of the 3, only Wilkey is believed to be still living in California.

At one time, Varnum had over 500 students. Mr. Fletcher White was the first Superintendent. And Mr. Calvin Smith was the first Principal, high school girls’ coach, and was also the band director. It was said, "He could make the piano dance." Often in assembly, Jimmy Wiednour played the banjo, and together they played a mean rendition of "The Stars and Stripes", which was a popular song as the war was going on, and many of the Senior boys knew they would soon go to war. Many did, and many did not return.

Norma Luckenbille was the baton twirler and was the first Queen of the Senior Class. Lillian Felton was the drum majorette, and A.C. Malloy at a later date.

Mrs. Munsey was an exceptional English teacher during this time and was also the librarian. Mr. Mutt Miller was the Social Studies teacher. He later went to Wewoka School.

The football field was located behind the gym and sported bleachers. They played teams from surrounding schools. Mr. Mutt Miller was the coach. Football stopped in 1939, and the band was dropped in 1943. Both were successful programs.

John A. Dorris was the elementary principal and boys' coach, and Mrs. Dorris was the junior high coach. The first assembly was held in the auditorium, which still had no seats installed; everyone sat on the floor. The purpose of the assembly was to instill in each student that they were now one group and had to give up the long and persistent rivalry between Good Hope and Liberty and become one group for the future of Varnum. Becoming one harmonious group was not accomplished easily or quickly.

Many of the students of the 1930s & 1940s remember going to school on the old wooden buses. They had wooden benches built along the sides with an open aisle down the middle. When the weather was icy, the bus couldn’t go up or down “Harber Hill”. Often, ponds overflowed and the buses forded water across the road. The old wooden bus (a Rio) was replaced in the late 1940s.

In 1943, on a Friday night, the bus barns burned and destroyed 3 buses. Mr Varnum, with Mr Vestal along, went and purchased 3 new buses on Saturday and gave them to the school. Bus drivers were on their routes on Monday morning.

The colors of green and white and the Whippet emblem were chosen by the seventh and eighth grade units as winners of a contest. Miss Mittye Hart, who taught math, supervised the pep squad's composition of the school song. School closed in the spring of 1929, with three graduating from high school and a house full of eighth graders ready to enter high school.

In the fall of 1929, more teachers were added. L. L. Burnett was the music and band director, and Ryan Bell was the first football coach. Two Red school buses were purchased to transport pupils to school and to sports events. In 1930, an addition was made to the north end of the original Varnum building.

In July of 1935, Mr. N. 0. Vestal came to Varnum as superintendent; soon thereafter, the shop building was added, and the home economics room, commercial department, and study hall were changed and enlarged.

The first Student Council was organized with Ralph Gosa of the class of 1941 as president. Hot lunch facilities were added, and Good Hope received a new water system.

Mr. Vestal remained as superintendent until 1959, when Mr. Eugene Warrenburg, the high school principal for many years, became superintendent. Mr. Warrenburg came to Varnum as boys' coach in 1942 and became principal in 1946 after military service. He continued to coach boys' basketball and baseball until 1959.

Kenneth Harbeston served as principal and boys' coach from the fall of 1959 through 1965. In the fall of 1964, the first basketball games were played in the present gym. Since the new gym used the grounds for the baseball diamond, Mr. Robert Varnum donated land across the road east of the campus to relocate the baseball field.

Boyd Shoemaker, a 1955 Varnum graduate, became principal in the fall of 1965 and served through 1967.

J. D. Harris, a 1947 Varnum graduate and principal of Good Hope for many years, then served as High School Principal and teacher until he retired.

In 1976-77, the Good Hope building was sold, and the elementary school was moved to the Varnum campus to occupy a new electrically heated and air-conditioned building.

Through the generosity of Mr. Robert Varnum, new tennis courts were built in memory of his wife, Mrs. Vinita B. Varnum, in July of 1977. The fence was moved back on Mr. Varnum's property to create more area for the elementary playground; in addition to this, he has made a very generous contribution for much-needed playground equipment.

For the first 50 years that Varnum School had operated, there were only three superintendents of the school: Mr. White, Mr. Vestal, and Mr. Warrenburg. We believe this fact is within itself a record and attests to the capabilities of these schoolmen.

The Original Varnum brick building was torn down in 1984 after the roof caved in and became unsafe to use. It was replaced with a green metal building.

This building houses a cafetorium, Principal & Superintendent offices, board room, 9 classrooms, and library. The water well system was discontinued, and the rural water system was picked up.

The Superintendent's house is now the home of the custodian, and the teacherage was converted into a cafeteria, but since the new high school was built, it was remodeled in the fall of 1997 and houses the 4-year-old program.

A new Superintendent's home was built and sits behind the old shop building.

The bus barn remains the same except for a cement floor. The Old rock building that housed the wood shop still stands and has been remodeled and turned into the Art room.

A new gym was built in 1964. The first one ever built with the type roof of it’s kind.

Through the years, enough land on the north side of the campus had been acquired to have two modern softball & baseball fields. These were completed in 1997. We also have a modern tennis court.

In 1997, A canopy was built behind the cafeteria with a snack machine for students to congregate at lunch time, and a storage area was added to the cafeteria to house tables and chairs.

The typing room was turned into a Computer Lab in 1997. The elementary school also houses a computer lab and computers within each classroom, so each child can have access to a computer.

A new Library and 6th, 7th & 8th grade complex was finished in 2002 and sits on the old gym site, between the north end of the school and the new gym.

In 2002, with the Jr. High students in their new complex, using one of their rooms to add more space, the science room was remodeled with new lab tables, sinks, and included a lecture area and computer section. (Oh, how we wish we could have had this in our day)

In the Fall of 2002, the sidewalks were replaced, and a bus loading area was created at the elementary school.

A new covered seating area was built for the softball field in 2001 and for the baseball field in 2003.

The sidewalks connecting all the buildings have been covered with a canopy, keeping students out of the weather while walking to and from the different buildings.

Since the closing of Pleasant Grove High School in 1995, we have acquired a number of those students, and with the transfers from Seminole, our school has grown over the last 2 years.