In The Beginning
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On August
18, 1906, the Georgia General Assembly enacted Public Law 448.
This bill
established a state-run Agricultural and Mechanical school in each of
Georgia's twelve congressional districts. Called A&M schools,they were
constructed on property donated by their host counties, administered by the
Georgia State College of Agriculture at UGA, funded by Department of
Agriculture fees, and operated by local Boards of Trustees. They were
instituted to fill a void at the time due to the lack of accredited high
schools statewide. The schools were designed by a single architect so
that main campus buildings statewide were all basically identical.
Construction on most of the began during
1907 and some opened for
classes
during the fall term of 1908. They were actually college preparatory
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boarding schools and
included students from 14-21 years of age. They offered two and four
year programs to both boys, who studied agriculture, and girls, who were
taught home economics. They operated until 1931 when the newly formed
Board of Regents abolished them as one of its first official acts.
Because high school agricultural education programs had become so prevalent
around the state by that time, and because the number of accredited high
schools had increased tremendously, the Regents felt like the A&M schools
had outlived their usefulness. The last class graduated from the
schools in 1933. Over the following two years the state deeded the
campus properties back to the host counties, stipulating that they be used
for educational purposes.
The A&M
schools included some of our state's most familiar schools such as ABAC,
which originated as the Second District A&M school, and Middle Georgia
College (12th district A&M school). Following is the list of A&M schools
and what they became immediately following closure in 1933.
First District A&M
School, Statesboro(South Georgia Teacher's College) Second District A&M
School, Tifton (Georgia State College for Men) Third District A&M School,
Americus (State Agricultural and Normal College) Fourth District A&M School,
Carrollton (local use) Fifth District A&M School, Monroe (Georgia Vocational
and Trades School) Sixth District A&M School, Barnesville (Georgia
Industrial College) Seventh District A&M School, Powder Springs (local use)
Eighth District A&M School, Madison (local use) Ninth District A&M School,
Clarkesville (local use) Tenth District A&M School, Granite Hill (local use)
Eleventh District A&M School, Douglas (South Georgia State College) Twelfth
District A&M School, Cochran (Middle Georgia College)
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Monday, April 02, 2007 01:32 PM
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