Rose Ogilvie-McClain, the first student to integrate at Maury County Public Schools, embraces the more than 100-year-old school bell at McDowell Elementary School during a visit to the school weeks before its permanent closure in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, May 6, 2021. Mike Christen / The Daily Herald

The Bell Rings On

It stood atop a hill in the center of town. McDowell Elementary School, despite its chronic maintenance issues, was a pillar of the community and a source of pride for its residents. Its walls had watched the world change and provided shelter for those who changed it.

What became the McDowell began in 1883 as a one-room, one-teacher schoolhouse. The original building was then lost in a tornado in 1900, inciting the move to its final location. In 1964, McDowell became the first school in Maury County to desegregate, enrolling its first Black student, who would go on to become an educator and a leader in the community—Dr. Rose Ogilvie-McClain.

After a decade of debate and the consideration of a $40 million packaged proposal to rebuild on the site, the school board ultimately decided to permanently close the building and redistrict its students to other neighboring campuses.

In the days leading up to the vote to close the school, more than 1,900 people signed a petition to keep the historic elementary school open.

On May 21, 2021, the school’s bell rang one last time as classes came to an end.

“My heart does not want to say goodbye,” said Ogilvie-McClain, 64, who is now the principal of the district’s largest high school. “I think back over the years, so many of our friends have gone, but God has left me for a purpose. They can never replace this building.”

McDowell Elementary School is the oldest operating campus at Maury County Public Schools. The campus is quiet with students out for spring break on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

Ashly Domingo Lopez waits for her bus inside McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, May 20, 2021.

Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder and Vice Mayor Christa Martin meet with students, teachers, and community members at McDowell Elementary School after being sworn into office at the school the two have deep connections with, on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2018.

Kindergartener Jeremiah Jensen walks down a flight of steps inside McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Karina Campos Sanchez, 9, and Daniela Cepeta Montoya, 9, work through an assignment at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Students wait to picked up at the end of the school day at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Cassidy Dianna Hope waits to picked up at the end of the school day at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Angel Hall works the front office at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Kanya Smith, 9, reads a book for an assignment at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn, on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Mrs. Mattie King leads a course on carving pumpkins at McDowell Elementary School on Oct. 29, 2015.

Light shines through a stairwell leading to the gymnasium inside McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Gabriel Letts, 9, is assisted by Monica Sandrell as he works through a mathematics assignment at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Diana Anderson, a food service employee for Maury County Public Schools, hands out meals at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia on Monday, April 27, 2020. Maury County Public Schools has served more than 150,000 meals amid the ongoing shutdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Tony Magallon, 8, walks down a stairwell to visit the main office at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

McDowell Elementary School fourth-grader Kylee Martin, joined by her father James Martin, asks the board members of Maury County Public Schools not to close down her school during a meeting at Horace O. Porter school and invest in a renovation of the campus on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018.

Maury County Public Schools School Board member Natasha Hopkins discusses the future of McDowell Elementary School during a board meeting at Horace O. Porter School in Columbia, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2020.

Columbia Vice Mayor Christa Martin, advocating for the continued investment in McDowell Elementary School, attends a school board meeting in regard to the future of the campus at Horace O. Porter School in Columbia, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2020.

A student-made mural emphasizing diversity rests on display inside a hallway at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

McDowell Elementary School music teacher Britney Maksymowich leads a class of kindergartners at the school in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Student artwork decorates the hall of McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Darlynn Lopez takes a sip from a water bottle on a short break from her studies inside McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Columbia Fire & Rescue flies an American flag above McDowell Elementary School during a closing ceremony for the school in Columbia Tenn., on Friday, May 22, 2021.

Brinley Burns leans on her teacher, Jerilyn Crooks, as she waits for the bus to pick her up at the now closed McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, May 20, 2021.

A newspaper article chronicling Rose McClain’s first day of school marking the start of school integration in Maury County Public Schools rests on Display at Maury County Public Schools in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 11, 2021.

Rose Ogilvie-McClain, the first Black student to integrate at Maury County Public Schools, breaks into tears while standing inside the first-floor hallway of McDowell Elementary School, weeks before the school's permanent closure, in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, May 6, 2021.

More than 100 years old, the McDowell Elementary School bell is the last piece of the school’s original location before it was damaged by a tornado. The bests in front of the school’s West 7th Street location in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Students at McDowell Elementary School recite the school’s motto during a closing ceremony for the campus on Friday, May 21, 2021.

Daniel Marez attends the closing celebration of McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Friday, May 22, 2021.

Teacher Charley Benefield attends the closing celebration of McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Friday, May 21, 2021.

Students release balloons celebrating the legacy of McDowell Elementary School during a closing ceremony for the campus in Columbia, Tenn., on Friday, May 21, 2021.

Students at McDowell Elementary School ring the school’s historic bell during the campus’ closing ceremony in Columbia, Tenn., on Friday, May 21, 2021.

Fourth-grade teacher Amy Burnett writes “You already have wings. All you have to do is fly!” on the back wall of her classroom at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, May 20, 2021.

McDowell Elementary School stands empty along West 7th Street in Columbia, Tenn, on April 6, 2022.

Tony Magallon, 8, draws inside the McDowell Elementary School gymnasium as he waits for his bus to pick him up from the Columbia, Tenn., School on Thursday, May 20, 2021.