On September 4, the HMMS teachers and staff along with the Union County School Board, Union County government, the Lewis Group and Merit Construction employees and the Latham-Davis Family broke ground for the new middle school. According to Director Greg Clay, the school system has decided to keep the name Horace Maynard since it was first established 100 years ago, first as the high school and then as a middle school in 1997. Horace Maynard, a Knoxville attorney from Halls, defended Union County from 1850-1856 as the county was sued by surrounding counties whose boundaries were changed by the state to form Union County.
Mayor Jason Bailey related that he had witnessed the groundbreaking of three new schools in the last twenty years, an astounding record for a small rural county. Bailey and Representative Dennis Powers reminded attendees that soon the Walters State and TCAT groundbreaking would also occur on the Union County High School campus later this year.
As the respective groups took their turn to toss some dirt, Gary Latham related the story of the land that had been a thriving farm on John Deere Drive. The farm was owned by Gary’s mom and dad, Bill and Dana Latham. Gary reminisced and pointed to the barn where he had worked and played. As late as the 1990’s he had overseen 65 head of cattle on these acres. As a boy, he had ridden ponies, picked buckets of tomatoes, and sold seeds along with his brother Kent.
Kent had been the first one to get a visit from Dr. Jimmy Carter regarding building the new middle school on the property. Gary and Kent, as well as the whole family, thought the school would be a fitting tribute to Bill Latham, a science teacher at Knoxville’s Central High, and Dana Latham, a science teacher at Union County’s Horace Maynard High.
When the new Horace Maynard Middle School opens in the fall of 2026, it will boast over 120,000 square feet and support grades 6 through 8 with complete academic and sports facilities. The Lewis Group Architects are Paul McColl, Jake Thomas and Todd Brang. The group will continue to update the school board and the county commission as the building progresses.