Located on Old Salem Road, the Dogtown school most recently was home to a seemingly eccentric old timer unable to handle the upkeep of the property. Many of us are too young to remember the one room schoolhouses, but have an affinity for these old elementary schools. Many, such as my old school Elmwood Elementary, still remain for those of us who like to remember the good old days.  I have a story about the Dogtown school that raises several points. Were the good old days that good? Is there really that much difference between then and now?  

     In the early 1920's the principal of the Dogtown school was driven to the brink of frustration when threatened by his students. Books, insults, fists and sticks and stones flew when the out-of-control teens acted up. Principal C. C. Livingstone, while talking with a newspaper reporter, had the doors locked and secured with boards and was extremely emotional.

     With a protective board in his hand the principal, in a trembling voice, "unfolded the story of alleged repeated attacks on him and the abuse by the local boys. He claimed the boys of the upper grades were the leaders of the ring which is made up of nearly everyone at the school." 

      Livingstone, a veteran of 30 years in the field in three states, called the Dogtown students the worst in his career. The most recent incident started when a young man named Lester Sipe attacked him.     When Livingstone was writing on the blackboard, he turned around to find that Sipe had blackened his face. The teacher, when admonishing Sipe, was told to "go to a place hotter than a bakery," the evening paper reported. 

     When the boy tried to take a swing at him Livingstone recipricated with a push, causing him to fall on his backside, the paper reported. T e other students started throwing books and howling like wolves. After dismissal, some of the students hid in trees and bushes while taunting the teacher to come out. Livingstone sent one of the woman teachers to get the authorities, who did not come to free the teacher until after dark.

     Livingstone told the sheriff that he'd been abused several times previously and that the teacher he had replaced had resigned from the school a nervous wreck. "The teacher claims there are a number of 16 year oldpupils in his school who cannot do simple arithmetic," said The Dispatch