On Friday, July 26, 1947, an alleged arson at Harrisonville School destroyed the entire building and its contents. Nothing survived and a suspect was never identified. South Harrison was left without any educational facilities or teaching resources.
The following Monday, the Harrison Township Board of Education convened a special meeting at which it unanimously passed the following resolution: Be it resolved that we, the Harrison Township Board of Education, being fully aware of the disastrous conflagration and the resulting unfortunate position in which it has placed our neighboring township offer our services and our facilities as far as possible to the Board of Education of South Harrison Township and to the people whom they serve.
Their concern was backed up by action. South Harrison was given the use of the schoolhouse in Jefferson for $1 for the year. The building had not been recently in use and required repairs and refurbishing, which was accomplished by volunteers from South Harrison. Ironically, Harrisonville School was the architectural model for Jefferson.
Coincidentally, Harrison Township was in the midst of planning the new consolidated school in Mullica Hill and the county superintendent and assistant state commissioner of education convened a meeting with both boards in January 1948 to discuss a merger of the two school systems. They touted the economic and administrative advantages of a combined system and suggested that the new school building could easily be enlarged since plans were still being developed.
Harrison’s board was amenable but decided to wait for South Harrison to request further discussion. The request never came.
South Harrison preferred to remain a good neighbor, not a junior partner.
