Robbins High School
Robbins High School was a public secondary school located in Robbins, an unincorporated community in southern Scott County, Tennessee. Founded in 1906, the school served the students of Scott County’s 2nd District for 65 years before closing in 1971 as part of a countywide consolidation. The school building and grounds continued to operate as Robbins Elementary School and still do today, though none of the original building remains.
Community Context
Robbins is an unincorporated community in southern Scott County. It was a railroad town of significance in the early 20th century, home to a bank, high school, and a number of retail establishments at its peak. The community’s growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was driven largely by the Southern Clay Manufacturing Company’s brickyard, which at its height employed between 100 and 125 workers, and by the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, which passed through the area and connected the region to broader markets.
Origins and Founding (1906)
Before the school was established, the children of Robbins went to school in an unpainted one-roomed building, the school running four or five months a year. Then the children attended a subscription school for a few months in the basement of the old Congregational Church building.
In 1905 and 1906, some of the town’s leading citizens — among them the Rev. Earnest Jones, the Congregational minister; Melton James Robbins Sr.; and Jasper Hughett — started a movement to secure a high school for the Second District of Scott County.
In 1906, a white frame building with three rooms and a hall was built on the present school grounds. Jasper Hughett donated the property for the school. The school was called Robbins High School, but the highest grade at that time was the fifth grade, no students being ready for high school. All grades from the primer through the fifth grade were taught in this one building by three teachers.
The first principal, a Mr. Bailey, resigned at the end of four or five months. The boys were said to be too tough for him. The second principal was John Willis Davis from Hustonville, Kentucky. Mr. Davis, his wife, Mr. Kirk Newport, and later Miss Rowena Walker were the teachers for many years. When the fourth teacher was added, a brick building with two rooms was built near the first building.
Growth and Accreditation (1917–1922)
William E. Bohannon, with a Master of Arts degree, became principal in 1917–1918. The State Department of Education then recognized Robbins High School as a first-class high school. The class of 1918 had eighteen graduates: George Boles, Horace and Ethel Hughett, Ted, Ethel and Link Walker, John Lee and Rebecca West, James Babcock, Helen Ott, Roberta Adams, Etta and Hettie Ross, Ezra and Charley Griffith, John West, Loren Raines, and Nora Kline.
This graduating class of 1918 marked a turning point — it was the first class to receive diplomas from the school, affirming Robbins High School’s standing as a legitimate four-year institution. Robbins had a school which went to the eighth grade, then later through two years of high school, and finally four years of high school, beginning in 1917 or 1918.
New Building and Athletic Expansion (1922–1942)
In the fall of 1922, Robert R. Vance, a lieutenant in World War I and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, became principal. At this time a new school building, a large two-story building, was under construction and was finished in time for the next school year.
Shortly after Mr. Vance came to Robbins, a frame gymnasium building was erected behind the brick building. This building was instrumental in developing a more adequate athletic program for the school. This building burned in 1942.
Principals
The school saw a succession of principals across its history. Following Vance, Mr. Wheeler was principal in 1927–1928, and Mr. Sheffey in 1928–1929. Mr. Olson Pemberton was principal for six years, from 1929 to 1935. Mr. Edward Stanley was principal for two years, from 1935 to 1937. Mr. Oswell S. Sexton was principal from 1938 to 1942 and from 1943 to 1946. Mr. John Jeffers was principal for one year, 1942–1943. Mr. A. V. Ellis was principal 1946–1948. Mr. Malvin C. Sexton was principal at Robbins from 1948 to 1954. From 1955 to 1961, Mr. A. V. Ellis was principal of the school, with the exception of one year’s leave of absence when Mr. Taskel W. Welch was principal, 1956–1957. Mr. Welch became principal again and held the position until 1971 when the school closed as a high school.
Consolidation and Closure (1971)
In 1971, the county’s new consolidated high school — Scott High School — opened in Helenwood, and high schools in Huntsville, Norma, and Robbins all closed their doors. The last graduating class from Robbins High School was the class of 1971. The school then became Robbins Elementary School. Mr. James Walker, a former high school teacher, became the first principal and served from 1971 until his retirement in 1986. Mr. Donald Branim served from 1986 until his retirement in 2003.
Notable Connections
While Robbins High School’s most celebrated native sons predated the school’s founding, the community that produced the school also produced two figures of national note.
Bruce Barton was born on August 5, 1886, in Robbins, Tennessee. He went on to become one of the most celebrated advertising executives in American history and a U.S. Congressman representing New York from 1937 to 1940. His father, the Rev. William E. Barton, had been instrumental in establishing civic and religious institutions in Robbins, and was among the community leaders who helped create the environment from which the school emerged.
Born in 1936 in Robbins, Tennessee, Harry C. Stonecipher is the former president and CEO of The Boeing Company. He was credited with the resurgence of Boeing after its government procurement scandal. Stonecipher graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Tennessee Technological University in 1960. Stonecipher attended Robbins High School before going on to his distinguished career in aerospace.
Legacy
Robbins High School served the 2nd District of Scott County for 65 years, educating generations of students from Robbins, Glenmary, Elgin, and surrounding communities. Its founding in 1906 reflected the ambitions of civic-minded community leaders who sought to bring formal secondary education to a part of Scott County that had previously lacked it. The school’s campus on School House Road in Robbins remains in active educational use today as Robbins Elementary School, ensuring continuity of the site’s educational mission into the present day.