Down on the Farm

photo courtesy of the Pittsylvania Historical Society

Hargrave was originally founded in 1909. At that time, however, it was called the Chatham Training School. It wasn't until 1925 that the school was renamed after one of its cofounders, J. Hunt Hargrave.

The predecessor to the Chatham Training School was the Warren Training School, which was led by Headmaster Charles R. Warren. After the 1908-1909 school year, a group of businessmen led by J. Hunt Hargrave purchased the Warren Training School and renamed it the Chatham Training School.

On Friday, February 19, 1909, Warren Training School's Dramatic Club put on a stage performance of the musical, Down on the Farm. The photograph from the Dr. Glenn B. Updike, Sr. Collection of the Pittsylvania Historical Society is of a wagon on Main Street in Chatham advertising a local show. That show is thought to have been Down on the Farm by the drama students from the Warren Training School. The individual standing up holding a megaphone is Dick Reid. The driver is Fletcher B. Watson, Jr.

The lyrics to the music of Down on the Farm was written by composer Raymond A. Brown in 1902. The music was written by Harry Von Tilzer.