Falmouth's Beginnings

Information gathered from several Falmouth residents tell of their relatives and acquaintances attending the first school in the Falmouth area on Belmont, property of the Ficklins, at that time. The school was a one-room frame building, built on a rock foundation with two stone steps at the door. It had only one window. It was located on the west side of Ingleside Drive, near the intersection of Washington Street and faced Belmont. It was reported that the floorboards were wide.

It is not known when the school first opened but from birth dates of several who attended, it is estimated to have been in operation before 1895. This was about twenty-three years after the public school system was established in Stafford County, in 1872.

The school building was in very good condition when artist Gari Melcher and his wife bought Belmont in 1916. Mr. Melcher made a few repairs, added a window and used it as studio for a time. It also served as a dwelling for a few months while a tenant house at Belmont was being repaired.

Under the administration of Mary Washington College, the school building was demolished after the Virginia Museum became the owner of the property. The land was left to the Virginia Museum by Mrs. Melchers in 1942 upon her death.

There are no written records available on the next school, but some who began their schooling there tell of a two-room frame building which was located about fifty yards from Old Union Church, beside Jett’s Orchard (believed to be the land where two homes and one business (William Howell, Esq) are now. The school had a long front porch with a cloakroom at either end for boys and girls to hang their wraps. It faced what is now Carter Street and is estimated to have been built around 1900.

Recalling the time they were in school, the building was very cold in the winter. A box stove was used to heat the school with the larger boys chopping limbs from nearby trees to use for fuel. The school grounds were wooded at the time and sometimes long pieces of wood were used. As the ends of burned off, the log was pushed up. The school got a good cleaning each week.

From a school group picture, there were around seventy pupils enrolled at one time. Children were grouped by “Little Room and Big Room” with younger children in Little Room. Mr. Eustis Moncure was remembered as being a very fine teacher for the students in the “Big Room” but very, very strict. For any misconduct, in his estimation, brought the demand to write the word “misconduct” five hundred times.

A larger three-room frame school building replaced the two-room school and was located a hundred yards or so away slightly closer to the old cemetery (about where Sara Anne Jett’s house now sits). It faced Carter Street and was next to Jett’s orchard which included the whole area over to the Telegraph Road, which is now Forbes Street. At that time there was no road where Prince street is today.

The school served white children, teaching grades one through seven, until Falmouth Training School was built about 1923 or 1924 (currently the C. Ray Grizzle Activity Center at 60 Butler Road). It was then used as a colored school for a time and later torn down to make room for a dwelling. Mr. Whitfield Peyton was Superintendent at that time. Fredericksburg State Normal School (University of Mary Washington) became a State Teacher’s College in 1924. As enrollment increased, there was need for training schools in addition to the city school to train young teachers.

At Falmouth a four-room school was built on land donated by Mr. John Lee Pratt. This land joined the old cemetery on the east side. Stafford County constructed the school and supplied the pupils while the College employed Supervisors for young women training as teachers. Each prospective teacher was in training for one quarter and was bussed to Falmouth daily by the college. This building has had multiple additions and renovations and is currently known as the C. Ray Grizzle Activity Center.

Grades one-six were taught at Falmouth. Seventh grade and high school students attended College Heights Training School or the City Schools. Stafford County furnished pupil transportation on a limited basis.

Falmouth Training School was used by the College until the 1930-1931 session and then was then taken over by the state. Falmouth High School opened in 1931 and thus Falmouth School became known as “Little Falmouth”, later Falmouth Elementary.

By 1945 indoor restrooms had been installed and also each room had a drinking fountain and hand bowl. The PTA was very active and had a telephone installed. Later the east wing was added to make room for a fifth and sixth grade class. A cafeteria, heating system, library and a west wing brought the school up to date and comfortable as well as attractive. The front of the building was bricked by 1960 and the playground had been enlarged.

During the 1967-68 session a new consolidated school was built and opened in January 1968 at 1000 Forbes Street; our current Falmouth Elementary School. Mr. Benjamin Carver was the Principal when the new school opened, January 1968 and retired in June 1968.

Mr. Dall Brown was Falmouth’s next principal, from 1968 to 1978, followed by David Conway who served from 1978 to 1986. Robert Burke became Falmouth’s principal in 1986 and retired in 2000. John McCoy was Falmouth’s interim principal from 2000 to 2002 and was replaced by Gayle Thyrring. Mrs. Thyrring left Falmouth in 2014 and the Assistant Principal, Sallie Johnakin-Putnam, stepped up as principal. Mrs. Johnakin-Putnam is still serving Falmouth students and families.

The school received an additional wing at the rear of the building that houses 5 classrooms, an art room and a gymnasium in 1996. The next change to the building took place over the 2011-2012 school year when the school was closed for a major renovation. The staff and students were housed and had that school year as part of the Stafford Middle School off Brooke Road in the courthouse area of Stafford County. Falmouth reopened for students and staff on September 4, 2012.

While we believe most of Falmouth’s students have gone on to do great things we do have two alumni that have become nationally known: Michelle Kang, Miss VA 1996 and Mark Lenzi, Olympic medal winner, in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games. (It is not known by whom, or when this history was written. With the exception of the last three paragraphs, the handwritten information was found in an office filing cabinet in 2000.)