Sent by a visitor to our site:

Hello, Palmersville Historical Society. My name is Kevin Brewer. I am a history teacher in Big Sandy.

I have here a photograph of my father, J. T. Brewer (second from the right), who died in 2001, representing Big Sandy High School in a basketball tournament award ceremony in 1960.

I am told by my uncle that the player to his right, in the “Pirate” jersey, is a Larry Rawls of Palmersville. [a reader corrected this informatoin — it’s Jerry Rawls]

I thought it might be interesting to see if anyone in Palmersville recognizes him or either of the young women.

Do you recognize the others in the picture?

A good overview of the area; recorded in the summer 2022.

Courtesy of Weakly County History. Many thanks to Robert Reynolds.

Ned R Kilgore drew this map in January 2002, based on his memories of town.

Click on the image to see a larger version. Download the map and legend using the link below.

Download the Map and Legend PDF Here

by June Kay Kemp

Palmersville School has had many outstanding principals throughout its history. Listening to visitors at the Historical Society’s building reminisce as they view the senior pictures hanging around the room, one hears so many stories beginning with, “Do you remember when Mr. (you finish the question). . . .

The two men with the longest tenure as principals were Mr. Carl J. McDaniel and Mr. Robin Montgomery; both were principals for nineteen years respectively. Although neither were natives of Palmersville, they made it their permanent home and raised their families here. “Mr. Mac,” as he was lovingly called, passed away June 14, 2003 and his wife “Miss Polly” passed away February 26, 2006. (As of April, 2006 when this article was originally written, Robin and his wife Sherry (Oliver) continued to reside in Palmersville.)

Following is the list of principals at Palmersville:

• 1921-22 Mr. W. Jonah Gibson
• 1922-23 Mr. Fitch
• 1923-24
• 1924-25 Mr. W. Jonah Gibson
• 1925-26 Mr. Robert McAlpin
• 1926-27 Mr. B. C. Lynch
• 1927-28 Mr. Hubert I. Jones
• 1928-30 Mr. A. S. Campbell
• 1930-31 Mr. R. H. Ray
• 1931-32 Mr. Jim H. Elarn
• 1932-35 Mr. T. W. Fisher
• 1935-39 Mr. T. Dessell Pentecost
• 1939-41 Mr. Happel Smith
• 1941-43 Mr. Norman Campbell
• 1943-45 Mr. L. B. Brown
• 1945-46 Mr. H. D. Hagar
• 1946-47 Mr. J. Leland Wingo
• 1947-50 Mr. W. H. Cravens
• 1950-52 Mr. Wyatt R. Cunningham
• 1952-54 Mr. W. A. West
• 1954-55 Mr. Lloyd Spiceland
• 1955-57 Mr. Walter H. Riggs
• 1957-59 Mr. Bob Childress
• 1959-78 Mr. Carl J. McDaniel
• 1978-97 Mr. Robert “Robin” Montgomery
• 1997-2003 Mr. Keith Darnell

Saturday, September 25, 1948

A few highlights:

• Free Entertainment: Tennessee Slim and His Troubadours.
• Horses and Mules
• Dairy Cattle
• Vocational Agriculture for Boys and Girls
• Culinary Competition
• Needlecraft