CRESTVIEW — Crestview High School students were in high spirits Dec. 11, 1953, the last day of classes before Christmas vacation.
They anticipated no more tests and no more teachers. When a fire broke out that evening, there was no more school.
Firefighters and helpful residents rushed to the campus, which was on the corner of State Road 85 and U.S. Highway 90, where today’s Crestview Manor stands. Though they managed to save some band equipment, books and typewriters, the building was a loss.
However, with the Crestview Fire Department pouring water on it, one significant part of the old school survived: its lunchroom, a separate, adjacent building.
Today, the former lunchroom — standing about 10 blocks north of its original location — is home to the GFWC Woman’s Club of Crestview.
“We talk about that often,” President Jeanne Gutenmann said. “Whenever we get a new member, we tell them about it.”
“I remember it. I ate in it,” 62-year Woman’s Club member and two-time past president Nellie Fleming said. “It’s got a lot of history in it.”
While the building has been refurbished, the 98-year-old organization has some furnishings original to the old high school. A bookcase from the original school library stands in the main room, and in the kitchen is a pantry original to the cafeteria’s kitchen, which is still in use — with modern appliances, of course.
A new high school was completed Jan. 5, 1954, a few blocks north, on the site of today's Richbourg E.S.E. School.
520 students moved in, making up lost days by attending Saturday classes to graduate on time. Their new school had 23 classrooms, a library, an office, a gym, a clinic, a lunchroom and 22 teachers.
After CHS outgrew that location, its current home on State Road 85 was dedicated on Sept. 22, 1969. Its former building became Richbourg Middle School.
After its students and faculty moved into the new Shoal River Middle School, Richbourg became an exceptional education students school, serving special-needs students from throughout North Okaloosa County.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Former Crestview High School lunchroom still stands as clubhouse