Photos of Walnut Hill in the early twentieth century are quite rare, but below is a photo of the Walnut Hill School.
This building was located on the northwest side of the intersection of what is now Highway 160 and the old Washington (Arkansas)-to-Shreveport Road. It was probably taken on or close to what is now Highway 160, looking north. Judging from the shadows and the clothing worn by some of the students in the picture, it was probably taken in the early to mid-afternoon of a relatively cool day, although some of the students are indeed barefooted.
Glynn McCalman, in his book Bradley Connections, says of the Walnut Hill School: “A new building with two large rooms was constructed in 1900, and after consolidation into the Bradley school the white frame school building was disassembled and reassembled in Bradley. It has continued to serve after having been expanded and remodeled.” (More on the reassembly, expansion and remodeling will follow in a future post.)
At great magnification, the American flag in this photo appears to have six rows of eight stars each, which would mean that this photo was taken sometime after July 4, 1912, when the number of stars in the flag was expanded to 48 to reflect the admission of New Mexico and Arizona to the Union.
This photo is courtesy of Nancy McGee Ward, and many thanks to her for sharing it with bradleyark.com. On the back of the photo is written: “Walnut Hill School, Walnut Hill, Ark.” and “Photo belonged to William Alford (Dick) and John Blanton Martin McGee.”
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