My Mom was born in 1928. She went to elementary school at a one-room school which still stands on Clito Road near Fries. The building is now known as Mt. Carmel Church and it’s at the fork of Knob Fork Creek and Elk Creek.
Mom lived about a mile from the school. She and her brothers and sisters walked to school every day - over a mile from their house. They each only had one pair of shoes so they went barefoot when they could.
The flood of 1940 was a devastating flood the likes of which have not been felt in the mountains since then. My aunt and uncle - both in their mid-80s remember how frightened they were from the flooding. They remember whole houses floating down the river.
The school at Clito survived the flood of 1940. You can still see evidence of how high the creek got at the school, because one of the students carved a notch into the corner of the building. You can see from the pictures 1) how far the creek is from the building now, 2) the red arrow showing how high on the building the flood waters rose, and 3) a close up of the notch.
