The Twin City Sentinel newspaper had exciting news in its September 6, 1937 edition. The news article on page one announced that Forsyth County students will be riding in style and in greater safety when the new school year begins. Forsyth County would have one of the new all-steel buses (shown above) that were recently purchased by the state school commission.
Fifty of the all-steel buses were purchased for use in various North Carolina counties. Their safety features and durability in actual road conditions would be tested before more vehicles were purchased.
This one all-steel bus had 18 double seats that would accommodate 36 larger children in comfort. The seats were leather-cushioned, and the brakes were touted as working all the time, not just part of the time. And the all-steel construction was sure to be stronger and safer than the predecessor buses which were not all-steel.
In fact, the first school buses appeared around 1920. These buses had wooden, wobbly bodies that splintered when involved in an accident. The seats on the buses were also wooden. One of these buses is shown above. Forsyth County had about 12 very small vehicles in 1923.
The photo above, dated circa 1928-1929, shows the Lewisville High School bus drivers standing in front of the school’s fleet of buses. The drivers are: Arthur Clinton Mock Jr., Herman Landreth, Bruce Harbin, Porter Reynolds, and Andrew Harper. The school principal or a teacher, George Dewey Shore, can be seen at the left behind the drivers. Also, the church in the distance is Lewisville Baptist Church (first building).
Over the years, many changes and additions have been made to make school buses stronger and safer. In 1960, new stop signals were added to the buses to alert other vehicles to the fact that the bus has stopped and that students will soon be exiting the bus. In the photo above, Forsyth County Transportation Supervisor for schools, Morris Hastings, discusses the new stop signal with Highway Patrol Corporal E. D. Young.
The school bus garage was greatly expanded by 1964, as the school buses were larger and more numerous. Buses have to be constantly monitored for maintenance and repair.
The school buses may look a little different today, but this 1972 scene shown above is very similar to the look that our highways will have when Forsyth County schools start on August 27th.
Photographs courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
