Mr. I. C. Sutton decided it was time that Lurton had its own school, so he donated two acres of land for the building site and supplied most of the lumber and materials to erect the school. The labor was supplied by local men, and this was the first school house in the area to be built with sawed lumber.

With the opening of the Lurton School, the other small surrounding log schools closed, and the children then came to Lurton School. Although this school had only one room, it also had a stage, and was a fairly large building. Grades one through eight were taught, with only one school teacher in the beginning, but later an extension was added and another teacher had the lower grades for some time.

Lurton became the first school to consolidate with Deer School and the four upper grades were bused to Deer, around the late 1930’s. It continued on as a wing school however, until the doors were finally closed to students in 1961.

Lurton School House, 1929-1961
Drawing by Pen & Ink Artist, Louis Gregoire

During the years of the Lurton School, the building was used for all of the community functions. It served as a church house for all denominations and revival meetings, pie suppers to collect aid for family disasters, 4th of July picnics, a voting place for all elections, traveling medicine shows, and at times during the summer it provided housing for musical lessons given by a traveling music teacher. One of the well remembered events held annually, was the Christmas program. The skits and plays were acted out by the local children and was directed by the school teacher. There would always be a large community Christmas tree the night of the program, with sacks of candy, nuts and fruit, for every child in the entire surrounding area. The tree, decorations, and treats were furnished by the local business men. Most every child in the area participated in the programs, as this was the highlight of the entire school year.

The old Lurton School building continued to be used for community gatherings until it was torn down in 1974.

Thelma Awbrey Gregoire provided the above information...Thank You Thelma!