CIVIC REFINEMENTS
Educational Facilities
Public Schools.-Carroll County has made marked progress in developing a school system for the education of its youth. The steady increase in the number of buildings has kept pace with constant efforts to better the standards of instruction throughout the system. The county is, according to census classification, entirely rural, so that educational problems may be considered as rural problems. There is need for further consolidation of the system. This would raise instruction standards to yet higher levels and permit better facilities in a number of instances.
Valuation.-In the county, including the incorporated town of Hillsville, the facilities have materially increased during the past decade. The elementary or graded schools are valued at $138,300 ; the two standard high schools-one at Hillsville, the other at Woodlawn-are valued at $60,000 and two colored schools at $4,000. The fixtures, playgrounds, and equipment for the elementary schools are valued at $25,246, and similar high school property is valued at $8,000.
| Group | Schools | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Schools | High Schools | 2* |
| Number of Schools | Elementary Schools | 96 |
| Number of Schools | Colored Schools | |
| Teachers | High Schools | 13 |
| Teachers | Elementary Schools | 145 |
| Teachers | Colored Schools | 3 |
| Enrollment | High Schools | 323 |
| Enrollment | Elementary Schools | 5,637 |
| Enrollment | Colored Schools | 80 |
Of the 100 schools included in the system, 46 white and 1 colored school are of one room, 43 white and 1 colored are of two rooms, 6 white are of three rooms, and 3 schools are classed as "large." The large schools are located at Hillsville, Woodlawn, and Gossan Mines.
Woodlawn. Since this school is one of the two in the county offering full high school credit, it will be taken up separately at this time in connection with the county system. The high school and elementary departments occupy one building valued at $41,000. Special instruction is offered in agriculture and home economics under provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act. This school provides an area of 17 acres for playground and for agricultural work.
| Group | Schools | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers | High School | 5 |
| Teachers | Elementary School | 4 |
| Enrollment | High School | 130 |
| Enrollment | Elementary School | 120 |
Churches
White Churches.-There were 69 churches for white communicants in Carroll County with a total membership of 3,989 in 1920. The annual expenditures of these churches, according to the 1920 census, were $14,906. The church property was valued at $84,750 with no indebtedness. There were 3,091 enrolled in the Sunday schools. Only 18.8 per cent. of the people were listed as church members.
Colored Churches.-There was one church for colored people with a membership of 39. Its annual expenditures were $286, and the valuation of church property was $2,500. Enrollment in the Sunday school was 32.
HILLSVILLE
Educational Facilities
Public Schools.-The high and elementary- schools at Hillsville are housed in one building surrounded by a two-acre playground and valued at $50,000. This school has fulfilled all requirements for an accredited rating under standards set forth by the State Board of Education. It provides special training in home economics under provision of the Smith-Hughes Act.
| Group | Schools | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers | High School | 5 |
| Teachers | Elementary School | 5 |
| Enrollment | High School | 148 |
| Enrollment | Elementary School | 180 |
Recreational Facilities
Theatres.-Good theatres are available within a fifteen mile radius. There is prospect of a modern local theatre in the near future.
Country Club.-Hillsville residents have access to the club house and golf facilities of the Galax Country Club. This club now has a small club house and a nine-hole course.
Little Reed Island Creek, on which the town is located, offers facilities for swimming, boating, etc.
Churches
The town has two white churches, one Methodist and the other Presbyterian.
Hotel
Hotel facilities include two small hostelries. The Childress has 15 rooms and the Hotel Carroll has 12 rooms. Rates in each are $2.00 per day. Board and room may be secured in one of several such houses for prices ranging from $20 to $40 per month.
Physical Plan and Streets
Hillsville’s layout is on the general plan of parallel streets. A large portion of the area laid off and incorporated within the town limits is now undeveloped. There are 13,400 feet of improved street and 14,000 feet of unimproved. All improvements are of bituminous macadam.
Street Lighting
The streets are illuminated by 18 lights of 100 candle power each, installed either by means of iron brackets attached to wooden poles or by suspension over the center of the street. Lighting facilities will be extended as need develops.
Municipal Sanitation
The town owns and operates its sewerage system. At present 4,480 feet of 8-inch sanitary sewer mains are in use. Disposal is by means of septic tanks.
The town keeps garbage and trash cans on the street and removes their contents on an average of once every two weeks.
Transportation
Nine busses pass through the town daily. The Blue Ridge Bus Line connects with East Radford and Pulaski, Virginia, and Mount Airy, North Carolina. In addition, jitney service with “Class C” rating may be secured for 25 cents.
Newspapers
The Carroll News is the only paper published in the town. This journal has a circulation of 1,000. Large dailies are widely circulated in the town and county, the leaders in this field being the Winston-Salem Journal, the Roanoke Times, and Lynchburg News.
GALAX
Educational Facilities
Public Schools.-The public school system consists of one high school and one grade or elementary school for white pupils, housed in separate buildings, and one colored school located outside of the corporate limits. The white schools are situated on a five-acre playground. The new high school building is valued at $48,000, the grade school building at $20,000 and the school grounds at $20,000. The colored school has a valuation of $9,000.
Galax citizens are interested in their schools and for years have carried on constructive work along educational lines. The Parent Teachers Association, with a large membership, has been most active in this work. The school budget for 1928 was $20,836.68.
| Group | Schools | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers | Elementary School | 11 |
| Teachers | High School | 6 |
| Teachers | Colored School | 3 |
| Enrollment | Elementary School | 504 |
| Enrollment | High School | 128 |
| Enrollment | Colored School | 60 |
Recreational Facilities
Theatres.-Two moving picture theatres have a combined seating capacity of 650. The Colonial has seats for 350 and the Galax Theatre provides accommodations for 300.
Country Club.-One mile east of town is a nine-hole golf course which has proved popular with the professional men and with the youth of the community. Small club house facilities are now provided in connection with the course.
Tennis courts also provide diversion for many. The fair grounds, comprising about 20 acres, are used for athletic contests.
Churches
Six Protestant white churches are actively organized in the town and have their own church edifices. The denominations are Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Christian, Friends, and Primitive Baptist.
Hospital
The Galax Hospital, valued at $75,000, serves the people of Galax and of both Carroll and Grayson counties. This institution has 20 beds and maintains a staff of two full time physicians, three consulting physicians, and ten nurses. It conducts a training school for nurses, six of the above ten nurses being in the training school.
Hotels
The hotel facilities of Galax are adequate. The Bluemont Hotel was constructed in 1923. This new and well appointed hostelry is of brick, three stories high, and has running water in 30 of its 50 rooms. Hotel Waugh, one of the landmarks of the town, has 18 rooms. Well established boarding houses, some with facilities for a limited transient trade, supplement the hotel accommodations. Board may be secured in these houses and in private homes for $30 per month.
Physical Plan and Streets
The physical layout of the town is according to the modified gridiron system. As a result of a recent program for extensive public improvements, the town has nine miles of improved street. Extensive sidewalk improvements total two and one-half miles. For the improved streets, concrete was used for two and one-half miles, bituminous macadam for two and one-half miles, and Warrenite bitulithic asphalt for four miles. Four miles of thoroughfare are unimproved. Improvements in the business section are from curb to curb. The town has shown a most progressive attitude toward improving and maintaining its public streets.
Street Lighting
Seventy street lights, of 80 candle power each, furnish the lighting. Most of these lights are installed on wooden poles by means of iron brackets but some are center swung.
Municipal Sanitation
The municipally-owned sewerage system of Galax is entirely within corporate limits. This system serves almost the entire community. Ten miles of sanitary sewers and close to one mile of storm sewers have been laid. These lines empty into Chestnut Creek. Garbage is removed weekly in the residential section, twice weekly in the business district, and is dumped three miles from town. The town is clean and well kept.
Transportation
Regular bus service is in operation to Mount Airy, North Carolina, Pulaski, Radford, Fries, and Independence. Jitney service to any point in town is available for 25 cents.
Newspapers
The town has two weekly newspapers, The Galax Post-Herald and the Carroll-Grayson Gazette. Both papers print news gathered mainly in Carroll and Grayson counties. The estimated circulation of the Post-Herald is 2,500 copies, while that of the Gazette is 3,000 copies.
A number of Virginia and North Carolina daily papers are widely circulated in the town. The Roanoke Times and the Winston-Salem Journal lead in the number of daily subscribers.