Juden School Established 1854

Juden School 900 W Cape Rock 04-29-2014Niece Laurie Evertt of Annie Laurie’s Antiques fame, said someone came into the store asking for information about Juden School. I admitted that I had heard of it, but had never shot any photos there.

I pretty much forgot about it until Monday afternoon while I was on a ramble with Buddy Dick McClard. I’m not sure how the topic came up, but Dick volunteered that the school was just down the road from his house.

School closed in 1960

Juden School 900 W Cape Rock 04-29-2014News clippings say the school, which was established in 1854, was closed when the Nell Holcomb R-4 School District was created in 1960.

It has had a variety of uses since then. I saw references to art exhibits, an animal feed store and an antique store.

If you’re looking for it, it’s at 900 West Cape Rock Drive, on the corner of Cape Rock and County Road 635. [Editor’s note: I said it was at the intersection of 643 earlier. I was only half-way correct. Cape Rock Drive is 643. The intersection is 643 and 635.]

20 Replies to “Juden School Established 1854”

  1. My Dad, Hal Greene, moved our family to Cape in 1965 and, along with 3 other families, founded Cape Bible Chapel- renting the Old Juden school building until building a permanent structure at 1200 N. Cape Rock Drive (now the home of Bennett Family Dentistry). Now, of course, Cape Bible Chapel is housed on the hill overlooking Kingshighway and Mt. Auburn Road.

  2. I’ve lived in Juden School No. 2 (I think that’s the right number) for over 40 years. My oldest brother, Don, even went to the 1st grade here. The building sat empty for years, and when the property went up for sale, my dad bought it. When pop took possession of the property, he discovered that the one-room school house was stacked full of old student desks. Over the years, the house has been remodeled and added on to … but to me – it’s still the old Juden School.

  3. I think that this the school where the children of very good friends of my parents went to school. In fact, I’m positive. Cynthia and Farris Wallace attended there until Nell Holcombe was built. I visited there one day when Cape schools were not in session. I remember mustard greens/boiled egg and vinegar for lunch and corn bread (I loved the lunch).
    Younger students in one room and older in another.

  4. I lived at Northland Hills Orchard on Cape rock Drive and should have gone to Juden School in 1947 but instead attended Franklin in city – Mother didn’t want me to go to a country school. Our 4-H group did meet there in the 50’s. It still had outhouses then. I don’t remeber ever going into any of the businesses.

  5. Oh so many memories. In 1949, I followed my brothers and sister attending Juden School #2 located on Country Club Drive close to Cape Rock Drive. I attended the one room school for my first three years with Mrs. Verda Hines teaching all 8 grades. I remember her coming to school every morning to stoke the coal furnace that provided the heat for the building. I would go to the store across the road to buy my lunch then owned by Mr. and Mrs. Dollar who later sold to Mr. and Mrs Poppe. The big event of the year was Halloween when the older kids would turn over the wood outhouses. I believe it was the 1951-52 school year Juden #2 was consolidated with Juden #1 and I attended the more modern 2 room school until I graduated in 1957. We enjoyed propane heat and cinder block outhouses. We also had a kitchen with hot meals prepared daily by Mrs. Kochenig (not sure of the spelling.) That is where I met Wilma Jo Williams, now my wife of almost 53 years. My teachers included Mrs. Hines,(who went on to teach at Marquette Elementary School for several years.) Ms. Darlene Todd, Ms. Flintsmith (forgot her first name), and Bill Blaylock who had just returned from serving in Korea. He was a blast. He would join us in playing ball, snow fights and other activities. He would let us boys pile into his car when he went to the library to get books for the upper grades to read. Ms. Flintsmith only taught for one year as she was single, a party girl and occasionally show up at school fresh from the parties and would not be so sober. I remember one morning as another student and I were putting up the American Flag, she showed up and told us we were putting it up upside down and made us change it which was then upside down. Later that morning we had a visit from the Missouri Highway Patrol inquiring about the “emergency”. Of course she blamed us for the error. Some of the greatest days and memories of my childhood were enjoyed during my early years of childhood. I still carry a scar on my chin from a fight I had with Butch Adams during a softball game at Juden #1.

    1. Mr. Palmer, I am the director of Prodigy Leadership Academy. The property of our school is adjacent to the Juden School. I am hoping to salvage the place and return it to its original condition as a museum. It is in horrible disrepair currently and heartbreaking to think it may soon fade into history. Since Prodigy has an established methodology that is very reminiscent to the old one-room schoolhouse model, we want to save the place and turn it into a museum tribute to the way things used to be in schools! We want Prodigy students to help capture the stories of people who actually attended the place and share these special memories. We also want to turn a portion of the place into a general store where our students can feature some of their learning projects, garden vegetables, herbs, and other products they are designing and creating. Can you please help me connect with people who attended the Juden School? Thanks for your consideration!!

      1. I saw your comment posted three times. I deleted two of the duplicates. If you don’t see your comment, it means that it is posted by a new user (not your case), or that you may have to press CTRL-F5 to refresh your browser.

        Good luck with your project.

  6. Juden #1 brings back lots of memories. That is where I started the 1st grade when Mrs. Adkins was the teacher and it was truly a one room school house. As I remember, 1st grade seats were on one side of the room and the grades progressed to the other side of the room. Being exposed to the upper level classes, you couldn’t avoid learning more than what you were being taught in your specific class level. I still believe that was an advantage.

    Mrs. Adkins did it all from stoking the stove, leading the pledge of allegiance and administering discipline with her bundle of switches. That was the height of WWII and one day her son, Kenneth, gave a presentation of his experiences in the Army Air Corps complete with his fleece lined leather flying suit. I’m sure that furthered my lifelong interest in learning to fly. It also stimulated the interest in purchasing those stamps which went toward supporting the war effort.

    Not to be forgotten were the outhouses which inevitably were turned over every Halloween and righted the next morning. Following a move further south on the Big Bend Road, I also attended Juden #2 for a short time, but it doesn’t hold the warm memories of Juden #1.

    Thanks for the memories!!

  7. I too attended Juden along with my brother Richard. Taught by Miss Holcomb & Mr. Hurt……. Does anyone remember him? Miss Nell was the best teacher ever. How she could control the downstairs first to fourth graders I will never understand. What a lady she was.

    Wonderful memories of special time in my life….

    And cousin Gary, I did not know that was your start in flying !

  8. Istarted second grade at Juden # 2, a hundred years ago… Mr. Glen O’Connell was our teacher…Then we had Mrs. Clippard, Tim O’Connell, Glen’s young brother, Betty Britt, and Ruth Stroder, my 8th grade teacher, who became my sister-in-law a few years later…. My daughter Marcia, and son Richard attended Juden #1…..and cousin, Gary Ervin…… Many good memories at Juden #2…….

  9. Marguerite Flint-Smith took over the upper grades (5th through 8th) in the original building after the basement was added and the Juden #2 students transferred there. Marguerite Ruth Flint-Smith was born July 28, 1932 in St. Louis, MO, the 2nd daughter of Roscoe and Cora Flint-Smith. She attended SIU Carbondale and received a Bachelor’s in Education in 1958. So, apparently she was doing her student teaching at Juden. Later she would teach in California. She apparently never married. She died at the age of 65, May 1, 1999, in Apache Junction, Arizona.
    Now for a short history of Juden School while I attended grades 1 through 6. Mrs Minnie (Robert H) Blair taught grades 1 through 8 in the late forties through the 1951-1952 school year. Then, in the summer of 1952 the original one room school was elevated and a concrete block basement was added with an entrance at the back. At the same time they replaced the wooden outdoor toilets with concrete block toilets and a kitchen was added at the front.
    The first school year for the new building was 1952-1953. Miss Nell Holcomb taught the lowers grade in the new basement and Miss Marguerite Flint-Smith taught the upper grades. Then in 1953-1954 Mrs. Verda Hines taught the lower grades and Miss Marguerite Flint-Smith still taught the upper grades. For my 5th grade, 1954-1955, Miss Darlene Todd taught the upper grades. She was a knock-out blonde and former graduate of College High.
    My final year at Juden Mr. William Blaylock taught the upper grades. I and most of the boys remember him well for the paddle with the holes in it that set your rear on fire. Just a few memories about Juden.
    To Ann Fuhrmann Crites: You won’t remember me but I worked for your father Lawrence at Northland Hills Orchards for several years during the summers. By chance do you have any pictures of the house you lived in across Cape Rock Drive and/or the packing shed? I’ve been looking for pictures for a long time but I haven’t found anyone with them. You can contact me at nich@att.net. I live in Marble Hill now. Thanks Ken for great blogs.

  10. I am the great grandson of Charles Guild Juden Sr, also known as “captain”. I only recently became aware of the Juden School. Does anyone know who the school was named after and why?

  11. I attended Juden school first grade through the fourth grade. Neil Holcomb was my teacher. After the fourth grade the city had Inc. where I lived and I had to start attending Washington school. First through fourth grade was downstairs and fifth through eighth grade was upstairs. Miss Cakie ( not sure of spelling) was the school cook and I remember her juicy burgers were the best I’ve ever had. The out houses were no big deal because that’s what I also had at home. My brother was upstairs . I did not know that there was another Gary Ervin that attended Juden prior to my attendance. I have a lot of great memories from Juden. The school did a great job of preparing my brother and I for the future. I became VP of a large company and my brother became the chief electrical and instrumentation engineer for Phillips Petroleum.

    1. Mr. Ervin, I am the director of Prodigy Leadership Academy. The property of our school is adjacent to the Juden School. I am hoping to salvage the place and return it to its original condition as a museum. It is in horrible disrepair currently and heartbreaking to think it may soon fade into history. Since Prodigy has an established methodology that is very reminiscent to the old one-room schoolhouse model, we want to save the place and turn it into a museum tribute to the way things used to be in schools! We want Prodigy students to help capture the stories of people who actually attended the place and share these special memories. We also want to turn a portion of the place into a general store where our students can feature some of their learning projects, garden vegetables, herbs, and other products they are designing and creating. Will you be willing to share more with me about your experience at the Juden School? My email is r.grammer@goprodigy.org Thanks for your consideration!!

  12. I live just up the road from Juden school on Co Rd 635. The school is in terrible shape and was researching history of the school. Would anyone be able to tell me where Juden #1 was located?

  13. Molly,
    Just saw your post. Juden School #2 is still there as far as I know. It was sold ans turned into a residence. It used to be easy to get to from Bend Road but they have Vincent or Timon Way blocked off now. If you go North on Ben Road turn left on East Cape Rock Drive, go up the hill and turn left on Vincent. Follow Vincent until you hit Timon Way and go left. The old school is to the left somewhere around there. If you come North on North Main follow Main until it ends at East Cape Rock Drive in front of the old Pope’s Grocery Store, now a two story residence. Turn left on East Cape Rock Drive and the right n Vincent down to Timon Way. There’s a picture of the building in a booklet on old country schools of Cape County at the City Library in the genealogical section. Good luck.

  14. Mr. Nichols, I am the director of Prodigy Leadership Academy. The property of our school is adjacent to the Juden School. I am hoping to salvage the place and return it to its original condition as a museum. It is in horrible disrepair currently and heartbreaking to think it may soon fade into history. Since Prodigy has an established methodology that is very reminiscent to the old one-room schoolhouse model, we want to save the place and turn it into a museum tribute to the way things used to be in schools! We want Prodigy students to help capture the stories of people who actually attended the place and share these special memories. We also want to turn a portion of the place into a general store where our students can feature some of their learning projects, garden vegetables, herbs, and other products they are designing and creating. Would you be willing to share more with me about your knowledge of the Juden School? My email is r.grammer@goprodigy.org Thanks for your consideration!!

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