Fall In The Ozarks - Part 3

It was time to head home, but we decided to detour around and take a more scenic route on the wayback. We drove away from the Buffalo River and headed west, passing through the small community of Boston (it is much much smaller than that other Boston in Massachusetts). There are a few neat old buildings here, including this old home:





From there we headed over and drove down a bumpy and dusty dirt road for awhile in order to reach the old and abandoned Mountain Crest Academy.



According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the school building was constructed in 1917 by the Presbyterian Church in order to "serve the 'backward classes' of the rural mountain South." Eventually the campus contained a few buildings. The largest building was constructed of stone and had classrooms on the first floor, and then a library and a boy's dormitory on the second floor. There was a girl's dormitory across the road, but it no longer stands.





The church ran about 42 schools, most of which were in the Appalachian Mountains. During the time it was open, the Mountain Crest Academy was the only school in the area that went all the way to the 12th grade. Tuition to attend was about $1.00 a month.



The school closed in 1931. After that the building was used for a summer camp for awhile, and then it was used as a farm building.





To get home, we eventually started driving down the Pig Trail. The curvy stretch of Hwy. 23 is maybe one the prettiest roads in the state.



And one last shot, taken with the infrared camera in a quiet time when there wasn't much traffic on the road.