Lafayette School on a postcard

January 13, 2007 12:50 am

When was the last time you saw a postcard of a public school?

Tourist sites, scenic views, novelty cards, maybe. But a school?

It wasn't so unusual when this postcard was mailed in 1910.

That was during the Golden Age of Postcards--yes, there was one-- when townspeople would share their civic pride for the price of a card and a 1-cent stamp, along with a concise message.

As Fannie wrote from Fredericksburg to her father, John Wright, in Doswell, about 45 miles away: "My dear Papa, I arrived here last night about 9:30. It was raining, but three were down to meet me with a carriage. I am well. Love to all. Write. Fannie."

The postcard shows Fredericksburg High School, which later became Lafayette Elementary School, then Wallace Library and headquarters of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, at 1200 Caroline St. in the city's Historic District.

Here's a little school history from The Free Lance-Star's files:

Lafayette wasn't the first school on the site. Students had previously attended classes at the Union House, originally a residence that eventually became too crowded for classes. The house was torn down when school construction was completed at a final cost of $40,000.

The construction project was accompanied by much fanfare, starting with the groundbreaking in 1908, when 550 flag-waving children dressed in white and decked with flowers stood on the grounds to watch city officials lay the cornerstone.

During a public open house, a "corps of lady instructors" welcomed 700 guests to the school, which "was looking its best. Beautiful bouquets of flowers adorned each teacher's desk and in many of the rooms were seen hanging pictures of historic interest."

The school held all of the city's 63 "white scholars" and a number of tuition students who paid $1.50 a month for elementary grades and $2 a month for high school classes. Black children were housed in a two-story, four-room building at the corner of Princess Anne and Wolfe streets.

It wasn't too long before crowding again became an issue at Lafayette School, and high school classes were moved to the Maury Hotel at the corner of Caroline and Hanover streets (which now houses J. Brian's Tap Room and Deborah's Place, a gift store).

Fredericksburg's high school moved three more times in the course of the 20th and into the 21st century. From the hotel, students went to a new Fredericksburg High School, later renamed James Monroe High--part of the complex now called Maury School--then to the newer James Monroe High School on Washington Avenue. That building served the city for 54 years and was leveled in 2006 to make room for the newest James Monroe High. Plans are under way for the private renovation of Maury School, which has been vacant for years, into condominiums.

As to the Golden Age of Postcards: According to various Web sites devoted to that sort of thing, the Golden Age was from 1907 to 1915, when millions of cards were printed to satisfy the public's mania for sending and collecting them. The U.S. Postal Service reported that in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, 677,777,798 were mailed. The U.S. population was 88,700,000 at the time.

World War I and the influenza epidemic seriously impaired the postcard industry, which never quite recovered its former glory.

A quick check of postcard Web sites will, however, turn up plenty of collectors who love the old cards.

Peggy Cocke, who lives in Fredericksburg, submitted this card, one of many found in a collection belonging to J.A. Wright, grandfather of her husband, Thomas F. Cocke.

--Jennifer Strobel