This page features photos of the Kennells Mill School, which is located at 39.775938, -78.810208 along Kennells Mill Road in Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. On a computer, you can reduce the size of the pictures by changing the width of your computer window.
The first photo below was provided by Mike McKenzie. To help to date the photo, Michael's father Fred McKenzie, who is the sixth person from the left in the second row, was born in 1934. Based on his size in the picture, I'm guessing the picture was taken in about 1940.
The following ten pictures of the Kennell's Mill School were taken on November 18, 2023 by Jason McKenzie. The railing configuration matches the photo above. The replacement front door, electrification, aluminum siding, and remnants of fiberglass insulation in a wall suggest that the structure was once used as a home. Fire damage is visible in several of the photos. Michael McKenzie wonders if the initials "C.C.M." cut into a foundation stone are for Charles C. Martz. Charles was born in 1853, died in 1934, and is buried at the Comps cemetery.
Students at Kennell's Mill School circa 1930
Colen Kennell contributed the following photo of students at the Kennell's Mill School. Colen reports, "The names were written on the back of the picture. I think my mother added them after questioning my grandmother, Blanche Shaffer Kennell, mother of Cliff and Mildred Kennell Wisler in the picture. My father was born in 1920 and he attended through 8th grade which means the picture is likely from the early 1930s. The names are:
Back row (L to R): Nell Emerick Witt, Lucretia Korns Sturtz, Ruby Busby (teacher), Mildred Kennell Wisler (partially hidden).
Middle row (L to R): Gladys Troutman Korns, Elva Troutman Long, Vernon Troutman.
Front row (L to R): Bob Troutman, Ray Kennell, Alma Emerick, Idella Weimer, Cliff Kennell."
At least some of the names of the girls include both their maiden and their subsequent married names, such as Lucretia (Korns) Sturtz, who I knew personally. Lucretia (Korns) Sturtz was born on December 13, 1915 and died on June 16, 2011.
1911 Kennell's Mill School Souvenir
The following 1911 Kennell's Mill School Souvenir shows my great-grandfather Wilson Korns serving as a director. This document was reproduced from volume two of the 2007 book "A Look At Southampton Township Pennsylvania The Way It Used To Be!", with the permission of Mona Huffman.
The following excerpt from the Southampton Township map in the 1876 Beers atlas of Somerset County shows the location of the Kennells Mill School.
The next picture is from the scrapbook of Merle Korns, and was sent to me as being a picture of the "Gladdens School". Merle's report card from the 1926-1927 school year is from the "Kennells M. School". According to his tombstone at the Palo Alto Hilltop Cemetery, Merle was born in 1914. Based on hair style (uneven bangs), Merle may be the little boy on the left. If that wild guess happens to be correct, then Merle's photo of the school would be from about 1920. The oldest boys in the photo don't look any older than about 10 or 12, so even if Merle was the oldest boy, the picture probably wasn't taken any later than 1926. Someone with an understanding of period clothing styles might be able to do a better job of dating the photo than me.
In Merle Korns' photo, the siding width is consistent, the board above the door is milled, and the window above the door has three panes. In first picture above with Fred McKenzie, the siding width is variable, and the window above the door has four panes. In the 2023 photos, the board above the door is unmilled, and (looking at the inside photos) the wood siding width is variable. Those inconsistencies make me scratch my head, and I just can't reconcile them. It makes me wonder if the school building had to be repaired or replaced for some reason, such as fire, between the years when Merle Korns and Fred McKenzie attended. One consistent thing is the lack of windows on the front of the building, and the the use of cornice returns at the tops of the front corners of the building. (Only the right-hand cornice return is visible in the photo with Fred McKenzie. The cornice returns are absent in the 2023 photos but present in the Merle Korns photo. My guess would be that the cornice returns were removed when either the insulbrick or the aluminum siding was installed.)
There is a Kennells Mill school district on the 1876 Beers map of Southampton Township, but no Gladdens School district. A 1930 newspaper article about Southampton Township states, "The names of the school districts are the same now as in 1892, as follows: Mountain, Comps, Kennell's Mill, Korns, Cook and Spruce Bank, one school house to a district." Based on that, I assume that Gladden's School and Kennell's Mill School are one and the same.
Based on the known location of the Mountain School, it seems obvious that the Pleasant Union District on the 1876 map is the Mountain School District that is mentioned in the 1930 article. In other words, that district was known by a different name in 1930 compared to 1876. The 1876 map also shows a Fairhope School District, which isn’t mentioned in the 1930 article.
