J-HHS: School’s History

The Campus

The first schoolhouse in Jonesboro, comprising 11 grades, was located at the corner of 3rd and Cooper. The brick building completed in 1913 was destroyed by fire in 1925. After the fire, the new J-HHS building was constructed during the most economically depressed era of American History. The architectural beauty of the structure soon came to symbolize Jonesboro-Hodge High School.

The school named its football stadium "Caldwell Peacock" in honor of two people:
Neil Caldwell, J-HHS Athletic Director & Head Football Coach 1927-28 to 1932-33, 1930 State Champions Class B
He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps shortly after his 1933 year at JHS and was stationed at Brooks Field in San Antonio, TX. On a flight to Barksdale and Natchitoches, Cadet Caldwell and his co-pilot were both killed when the plane crashed in a rain storm near Danville on September 3, 1934. The flight mechanic escaped with serious cuts. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston, LA.
Gordon Peacock, a J-HHS student and member of the Tiger football team, was injured during a practice in 1934. With pains in his chest and a fever, he was sent to Dr. McDonald whose only recourse was to put him to bed in the hotel since there was no hospital in Jonesboro.  He was released, but developed double pneumonia and was transferred to the Ruston hospital. His father, Rev. W. D. Peacock, was out of town and could not be reached. The Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Department provided the assistance in order to get Rev. Peacock to Ruston, but Gordon Peacock died. In his memoirs, Rev. Peacock writes that just before Gordon died, he told his mother, Mrs. Annie Peacock, that everything was all right with him spiritually. Coach Patterson was with Gordon when he died. His comment was, “If there is a heaven, he is in it. He had such talent and had to go so young.” The athletic association took care of all the medical and funeral expenses. Gordon, through classroom lecture, was credited with the converting of seventeen of his classmates who asked forgiveness for their sins. Shortly after Gordon's death, a classmate stopped Rev. Peacock and said, “He was a boy that could not be enticed to do wrong; he was a high-tone Christian.”
 

Alma Mater

Firmly founded, Alma Mater,
Mother kind is she.
Here within the sheltering structure,
Pledge we loyalty.
As we enter into battle,
Look, we must, to thee.
Ever faithful, thou art J-H,
Thus the victory.