A Methodist school built in 1884-5 originally stood on this site. It operated until 1922, when it closed because of the advance of free public schools. Alben W. Barkley, who later served as Congressman, Senator, and United States Vice President from 1949-53, graduated here in 1897. He worked his way through by doing janitorial work, giving rise to the phrase, "Barkley swept here."