The History of Ellen Woodside Elementary

Ellen Permelia Charles Woodside was the daughter of Israel Charles and Pamelia Sullivan Charles.  Ellen, the third of eight children, was born on February 13, 1838 near Washington Church, on the road leading from the Ware Place to Pelzer.  Later, the family moved to the old Israel Charles place on Augusta Road—the two-story house with four chimneys, a mile north of the present Ellen Woodside Elementary School still stands today.

At the age of nineteen, Ellen Charles married Dr. John Lawrence Woodside.  Ellen Woodside’s eldest grandchild wrote that her grandmother had an orchard and that one particular apple tree had grown from a branch she used to spur her horse when she rode away sidesaddle on her honeymoon. During the Civil War, when Dr. Woodside was away, Mrs. Woodside regularly treated patients who needed medical help.  Ellen and John Woodside had nine sons and four daughters.

The project of building the Ellen Woodside High School building was conceived several years before the actual work began.  Several meetings of the citizens were held at different times and the building of a high school was discussed.  It was a long time before plans took concrete form and the district was able to finance the project.

There was a consolidation of two school districts, Sonoma and Oaklawn/Washington.  After the consolidation, bonds were sold to raise funds for the new high school.  The newly formed district acquired a bond for $13,000, but this was not enough to pay for the kind of high school needed in our community.  At this point Mr. John T. Woodside, son of Ellen and John Woodside, generously donated five acres of his home place acreage on Augusta Road and offered to pay one-half the cost of the first new school building.  With this money available the trustees felt they were ready to move forward with the construction of a building.

Before construction began a problem arose as to where to hold classes.  Again, Mr. Woodside came to the rescue.  Initially, classes were held in the Community Hall over the Woodside Store.  Mr. W.C. Hall, of Iva, SC served as principal.  The first faculty consisted of three teachers:  Mr. W.D. Hall, Miss Anna Prentiss, and Miss Ruby Badger.  Mr. Woodside was asked to serve on the building committee and rendered valuable service in making plans, awarding contracts, supervising the work, and advising the trustees in many of their problems.  Finally, in 1924 the contract for the building of the school was let to Mr. J.R. Owen of Greenville, SC for the approximate sum of $30,000.  It was near the close of the first school year, about April 1925, before the building was ready for school purposes.  However, the first term of the High School was finished in the new building.

After the building was completed and equipped the trustees determined that they were $5,200 short of expenses.  The three trustees of the High School; Dr. J.F. Stoddard, T.W. Stansell, and A.W. McDavid, went to the Bank of Woodville and signed personal notes for enough money to pay off the debt.  Mr. M.C. Barton, County Superintendent of Education also helped pay this obligation.  The trustees got the bank note paid without calling on the new school district for help.

The new two-story Ellen Woodside High School (pictured right) grew from three teachers (including the principal) in 1925 to seven full time teachers ten years later.  The School continued to grow, change, and serve the community. 

It is rumored that an unfortunate fire destroyed the original Ellen Woodside High School building in the late 1940’s.  A “modern” one-story building was built on the original school site.  By 1966 the new Woodmont High School building was built in Moonville, and the former high school became the community elementary school serving students in third through seventh grade.  Students in grades k-2 attended Burgess School.  In 1982 Woodmont Middle School was constructed, Burgess School was closed, and the second Ellen Woodside Elementary School (pictured below) housed students in our community from kindergarten through fifth grade.

This former building was partially demolished with plans to transform the remaining structure into the Riley Child Development “First Steps” early childhood education center.  Later, the building was completely torn down and an entirely new structure for the child development center is presently under construction.

In the year 2000 we witnessed the completion of the new Ellen Woodside Elementary School.  Construction costs of $7.4 million included a state of the art Computer Lab, Media Center, and Science Lab.  Doors opened to students in the fall of 2000 with a student body of more than 600 and a staff of approximately 75.  Our beautiful Martha Talbert Memorial Butterfly Garden was dedicated in the spring of 2001.

Ellen Charles Woodside’s spirit of nurturing and caring for our young people has lived on through the works of hundreds of dedicated teachers, administrators, staff members, parents, and community leaders.  Upon her death in 1906, the following was included in her obituary in the Greenville News, “All through the Piedmont, Mrs. Woodside was known and honored.  …The influence of Mrs. Woodside’s beautiful life has been felt by many people all through this section…” Mrs. Woodside’s legacy continues to influence the members of her community that she loved so dearly.  As we look back and cherish the colorful history of our beloved Ellen Woodside Elementary School we also press forward each year with improvements in teaching methods, students services, parent involvement, and community service.