Methodist Protestant Childrens Home History When longtime residents of the Jamestown and High Point area think of the George T. Penny house, the imposing mansion at the corner of Greensboro and Penny roads comes to mind. It is now the home of the Sisters of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God and part of Pennybyrn at Maryfield. But before Penny built that structure in 1926, he owned property closer to High Point, at the corner of Greensboro and Deep River roads, in an area commonly known as Five Points. That property became the Methodist Protestant Childrens Home, which operated from 1910-41. “The Methodist Protestant Children’s Home is the crystallized love of the women of the North Carolina Conference for orphan children,” reads a history of the N.C. Annual Conference written in 1939. According to another booklet, History of the Methodist Protestant Children’s Home 1910-1935, by Mrs. Mabel Williams Russell (the home’s first matron), the Home actually had its roots in Denton. Mrs. W.C. Hammer and Rev. G.L. Reynolds saw the need for a home of orphans and children with only one parent (half-orphans). Reynolds offered a discarded school building on the property of the church he was pastoring and the Home was opened. But it soon outgrew the small school building and began looking for larger quarters. “The Denton people plead for us to stay with them and made liberal offers,“ reads Russell’s book, “but this being before the days of good roads and automobiles, made it a hard place to reach.” In 1912, Dr. J.R. Reitzel, who grew up orphaned, and Capt. A.M. Rankin, each offered $500 if the Home would move to High Point. Officials purchased 38 acres “on the Greensboro Highway” in 1913. This property is where the Eastgate Shopping Center is located today. Additional property across Deep River Road was purchased in 1918 where the boys dormitory was erected. Penny probably did not own the property when it was sold to the Home. Several references indicate a farm was purchased from J.J. Welch. However, along with his brother J.C. Penny, George helped finance the construction of the boys’ dormitory which was named Penny Hall. The Penny brothers were auctioneers and an area newspaper once quoted Penny as saying the “most profitable investment the Penny Brothers ever made was in the Methodist Children’s Home. “The first quarter of the (20th) century has seen the institution grow from a small home to one of the most modern and best-equipped in the state.” (High Point Enterprise Aug. 18, 1935) From three children the article states that 112 children aged 4-18 currently live at the home. Over the years, the High Point location grew to include a girls’ dormitory, boys’ dormitory, a superintendent’s home, laundry, meat house and 132-acre farm. The campus offered many recreational facilities, including a swing, croquet/tennis/basketball/volleyball courts, merry-go-round and a swimming pool. The children were required to keep up the buildings and work on the farm, supplying most of the needs for the Home. Summer gardens provided fresh vegetables that could be canned for later use. Livestock supplied pork and bacon, milk, butter, chicken and eggs. Additional property in the Sedgefield grew grain for the livestock. Russell’s book goes on to state that older children were sent to Jamestown High School for study. Two teachers taught primary and grammar grades at the Home. “The girls were taught to cut and sew and not only made their own clothes, but made suits for all the boys under 12.” A 1938 booklet states that girls “over 16 years of age are permitted to receive callers, under proper conditions. Our own boys call and so do boys from the outside.” Being a religious home, the Bible was taught daily and the children sent to First Methodist Protestant Church in High Point on Sunday. The Home was largely supported through public pledges, Methodist Protestant churches and Sunday Schools, and an endowment from the Duke Foundation. An annual bazaar and supper raised money for Christmas at the home. Records from 1939 show that while the home was endorsed by the General Conference, the church never allotted more than $2000 per year. The Methodist Protestant Church and Methodist Episcopal Church, South, merged in 1939 into the United Methodist Church. Since there were larger children’s homes in Winston-Salem and Raleigh, all children were moved there and the High Point location closed its doors in July 1941. “At the time of the merger, the Methodist Protestant Children’s Home is High Point was the only active Methodist Protestant home of its type in the nation,” reads The Fruit of the Vine: A History of Methodism in the Southern Piedmont by Peter R. McGuire. After the children left, High Point College (now University) acquired the 132-acre property and used the dormitories as residents for married veteran students after World War II. Annex Furniture Galleries used the girls’ dormitory for its showroom for many years. In 1946, the Presbyterian Home purchased the property where the boys’ dorm was located, on the east side of Deep River Road. The 1923 building was used until 1986 when it was demolished for a newer facility. Credit: Carol Brooks Jamestown News “Five Points once site of orphanage” July 14, 2010
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 02:48:59 +0000
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