EARLY SUPERINTENDENTS OF HICKSVILLE SCHOOLS
FROM 1904 H.H.S. ANNUAL

1874–75 — H. B. Harris 

1875–77 — F. J. Miller 

1877–79 — O. B. Tanneyhill 

1879 — F. M. Priest (a few months) 

1879–82 — T. Reese Milleson 

1882–84 — C. A. Fyke 

1885 — C. W. Prettyman 

1885–89 — S. L. Lutz 

1889–92 — W. E. Bowman 

1892–1900 — W. A. Salters 

1900–01 — A. D. Rank 

1901–02 — A. C. Bagnell 

1902–04 — J. M. Beck

Information from the 1904 H.H.S. Annual and 1924’s Hicksville of Today

From their earliest histories, Hicksville and Hicksville Township were known for maintaining schools of a high grade. The township was divided into nine sub-districts, each with its own school board managing the concerns of its little—and sometimes red—schoolhouse. In the village, Ranson Osborne taught the first school of five pupils, and a small frame structure located on the NW corner of High and Bryan Streets was cited as the first school building.

A black and white photo of the original school's building.

By 1874, a larger plot of land at the corner of Smith and Main Streets was obtained for the purpose of building a larger school for the town’s growing population. The first graduating exercises were held in 1881 under the superintendency of T. Reese Milleson at the first M. E. Church on Main Street. Mr. Milleson resigned shortly before the next year’s graduation, and the class of 1882 did not receive their diplomas for more than ten years when ceremonies were held in August of 1892. Despite an addition to the original $15,000 four-room brick structure, it was obsolete within 22 years and torn down.

A black and white photo of a bigger school, constructed around 1896.

Photo of a High School class in 1896 along with Superintendent Salters.

[Ed. Note: Despite the lingering effects of the Depression, Hicksville citizens built a new high school in 1939 with the addition of a junior high and gymnasium wing ready in time for the graduating class of 1967. An elementary school was constructed at the corner of North Bryan and Arthur Streets in the mid-1950’s. Voters in 2005 passed levies needed to consolidate the Hicksville Schools at the east edge of town in what was once George Wilderson’s orchard.]