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Show Down Memory Lane BY JOHN J. CREEDON GOODBYE BINGHAM CENTRAL SCHOOL They are tearing down Central School at the mouth of Markham Gulch this week, and another landmark land-mark become a pile of rubble and dust. The building itself is not old as landmarks go, but it sits on a historic his-toric spot that was an important part of the mining industry in the early days. It was here that the Markham Mill stood. It was owned and operated op-erated by the North Utah Mining Co. and handled the ore from the North Utah and Butler mines and produced some of the highest grade lead ore mined in the area. This spot was also the site of several homes and it was here that Theo Marx had his cigar factory, where those fragrant "Alberta'" were hand rolled. The Stewart, James and Stillman families lived there at one time. Central School as it is now known was completed for the school year of 1924-25 and was originally built as the high school for the Bingham District. The first class to graduate "from this hish school was the Class of older parent when attending the exercises and the school plays, but the larger room was a welcome treat after the little auditorium at the old school. The huge velvet curtain was one of the highlights of the new assembly room and the many windows so high gave light that wa missing so much from the old one. The buildin g did not serve too long as the high school, as in the early thirties the present Bingham High School wa built in Copper-ton, Copper-ton, after much opposition from the residents of Bingham. After the high school moved to Copperton, the first six grades moved to the building now being torn down and there Central School served the community until the present time. While the high school was in the building, many innovation came about in the achool activities. It was here that football and baseball became a part of the athletic program pro-gram of Bingham High and saw these teams improve so that in the years to come they brought many honors and trophies to Bingham. Memory goes back a I recall the play put on by the high school and the grade school in the auditorium. It was there all of my daughters received their elementary education educa-tion and, where I watched them with other proud parents as they put on plays and took part in PTA activities and summer programs. I recall some of the fine men and women who taught school there over the years. Following H. R. Atkin's reign as principal, Tommy McMulli n assumed the dual role of principal and coach for a number of years. In that day the principal wa over the entire school from grade one to twelve. I believe the first principal of the elementary school was R. R. .Bell and he was followed by Harold W. Nielsen and then Ira A. Moss. All of these men were active civic leaders and contributed con-tributed much to the life of the community. .Thirty-six years of service to the youth of the community was the record of the last of the achool buildings in the area.. They can level the building and haul it away, but the memories of laughing children chil-dren on the playground and watching watch-ing the little ones grow in body and mind and take their place in the world these cannot be erased. 1925. A few of this class still live in the area and 1 recall some of my friends from Carr Fork, Elva (Johnson) Green, Einner Sutherland and Joe Brisk who were among the first graduates of- Mr. Creadon tne ,new hl8n school. Bingham got a new high school building that year and a new principal, prin-cipal, H. R. Atkin replaced L. W. Nielsen, who moved to Sandy, to become principal of Jordan High School. The home on the school grounds was built for the principal at the same time. This new building saw the tnd of classes on the top floor of the gymnasium building and that long trek up the stairs. It also saw the end of old Central School, the stone and brick school that was built in the early 1900's. The first class to be graduated from the new school opened the use of the auditorium, but again they placed this on the top floor and it wa a long climb for the |