Flashback Photos: Gwinnett's schools and schoolchildren,...

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Flashback Photos: Gwinnett's schools and schoolchildren, 1897-1927

Gwinnett County has the biggest -- and arguably the best -- school system in Georgia. But where did it all begin? (All photos courtesy the Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History, unless otherwise noted).

Students at the Glenn School, located on Rockbridge Road between U.S. 78 and Centerville, as photographed in 1909. "Teachers Miss Stacy and Miss Mobley must have had a rough time with students as four of them have escaped onto the roof," the Gwinnett Historical Society notes. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

The students of Pleasant Hill Academy, and instructors Dr. Aubrey S. Hopkins and E.T. "Zeke" Hopkins, as photographed on Aug. 12, 1897. The Gwinnett Historical Society notes the baseball bat leaning on the table in front was used "for discipline or play." (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

The Lawrenceville City School on Oak Street, as photographed in 1900. Built in 1895, it was the city's first tax-funded public school. It burned down in 1902. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

Children at Beaver Ruin Academy, photographed in about 1911, grasp early predecessors of the hula hoop. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

A 1900 commencement ceremony at Gwinnett's Harris Academy. The Gwinnett Historical Society notes the backwards "n" on the banner. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

The students of Pharr Academy near Snellville, as photographed in 1910. The Gwinnett Historical Society notes that Hoyt P. Oliver served as their teacher. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

Students at the Union School on Stone Mountain-Lilburn Road, circa 1914. Vada Nash Johnson and Bertha Brooks, pictured on either end of the back row, were teachers. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

According to the Gwinnett Historical Society: "The nucleus of the Old School on Church Street, Buford, was dedicated in 1906. The school was later expanded in the rear to Jackson Street; the high school, at right, was added; and the auditorium, never completed, was added at left." (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

The 1914 graduating class of Dacula High School poses in front of the school, which was built in 1910. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

Students at Carter's Academy in the Grayson area, as photographed circa 1900. (Photo courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society, via Evelyn Green)

Snellville High Scholl was built in 1927 along what became U.S. 78. The Gwinnett Historical Society notes it was built with "Snellville granite." (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

Students of Gwinnett's Peachtree School, and teacher Bertie Sigman, as photographed in 1911. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

Students at Jackson Academy, as photographed in 1922. The school was built in the early 1900s on what would become Lawrenceville's Sever Road. Notes the Gwinnett Historical Society: "... Students sat at double desks, brought their own tin cups for water and used nearby woods for toilet facilities." (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

The second city school of Lawrenceville was opened in 1903 -- despite the sign in the second-floor arch saying 1902. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

Students at the Glover School, located on what's now Jimmy Carter Boulevard, as photographed sometime in the 1920s. (Photo courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society via Nolan D. Singleton)

The first brick school in Buford, which became known as the Old Academy, was built in 1884. It's shown here in 1923, after it had been taken over by a Masonic lodge. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)

This photograph, believed taken in the 1910s, shows students at an unknown Gwinnett County school. (Photo courtesy of Gwinnett Historical Society via Jay Summerour)

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Students at the Glenn School, located on Rockbridge Road between U.S. 78 and Centerville, as photographed in 1909. "Teachers Miss Stacy and Miss Mobley must have had a rough time with students as four of them have escaped onto the roof," the Gwinnett Historical Society notes. (Courtesy Gwinnett Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Archives and History)