Fairview School and Community

Fairview School was located on top of Childress Bluff, which is an elevation on the left side of U. S. Highway 60 West near the Crittenden-Livingston County line. The area was also called New Salem.

Childress and Brown schools were combined in the early 1900's and named Fairview. A new wooden frame school house was built to house the students from both schools. There were outbuildings and a cistern in the yard. The iron pump at the cistern was a great delight since there were few homes that had a pump at it's well.

Also near by was the Susie Bealer fluorspar mine. Many new families had moved into the district while the mine was in operation. There was a large enrollment at the school. All 8 grades were taught by one teacher.

Some of the families of the Fairview district were Redge Yates, Audrey Brown, Leslie Howard, Higdon Howard, Charlie Wring, John Koon, Milt Childress, Grocer Damron, John Cox, Roy Simpkins, John Simpkins, Felix Tyner, Robert and Bud Kirk families, George Clayton, Allie Hicks and Dewey Hayes.

Some of the teachers were: Nannie Paris in 1891, Raymond Hunt, Owen Davenport, Bertie Kirk Thompson, Bertha Ramsey, James B. Kirk, Ina Stembridge, Nell Brown Wheeler, Audrey Brown, Jim NcNeely, Mary Young Conyer, Stella Dean, Haydon Harpending, Belvie Howard Childress, Willard Montgomery and Jessie Cummings.

Crittenden Press August 25, 1905 - Fairview Community Items.

• Mont Davenport, J. E. Wring and Ed Summers have each lost a valuable horse lately.
• J. W. Wilson, who recently returned from Missouri is suffering from a severe case of chills and fever.
• Owing to the excessive rains the campers at the Howard Medical Spring will decamp earlier than usual this season.
• William Shreeve, while returning from town the other day had the misfortune of his horse running off with him throwing him in a brier thicket and scattering sugar and coffee for half a mile.
• Ed Summers is giving this section of road the best working it ever had. He is putting the big hill near New Salem in apple pie order.
• Fairview school house stands on a high elevation in the southwest portion of Crittenden County. Our district has a neat, substantial frame school building with a veranda in front and furnished with all the modern apparatus that is generally found in county schools. B. L. Bibb is in charge of our school.